Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI
Thursday, 24 July 2025
by Gianni ValenteHoms (Agenzia Fides) – In post-Assad Syria, still bloodied by sectarian violence and terror, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio’s prophecy of coexistence echoes once again, 12 years after his mysterious and unsolved disappearance.In recent days, the figure, insights, thoughts, and words of the Roman Jesuit, founder of the al Khalil monastic community of Deir Mar Musa, are at the center of initiatives, liturgical celebrations, public meetings, conferences, and testimonies involving scholars and local authorities, Christians and Muslims, former prisoners, confreres of the Society of Jesus, his friends and companions of his journey, starting from the monks and nuns of Deir Mar Musa. This is the first time this has happened since Father Paolo disappeared on July 29, 2013.”The radical change that Syria has been experiencing since December 8, 2024,” write the monks and nuns of Deir Mar Musa, “allows us, for the first time in many years, to once again organize meetings and seminars and to speak publicly about Father Paolo Dall’Oglio in the country he adopted as his own.”At the Monastery of Deir Mar Musa, where Father Paolo lived and worked for over thirty years to foster Islamic-Christian harmony, a four-day interreligious seminar entitled “Open Hearts: A New Hope for Syria” is underway. The seminar will explore some of the distinctive features of Paolo Dall’Oglio’s human and Christian journey. The first day will be dedicated to hearing the testimonies of prisoners held by the former regime; the second and third days will focus on issues of peace and reconciliation; while the fourth day will focus on his journey and his insights from the perspectives of his Christian and Muslim brothers.The Figs of Idlib”On July 28,” Father Jihad Youssef, Prior of the Deir Mar Musa Community, told Fides, “will be a day dedicated to what we wanted to call the ‘Garden of Figs.’ The fig tree is the only tree that survived in the Idlib area. When people managed to return to their homes, they found everything dead and dried out, except the figs. A former prisoner, now a specialist in prison literature, with others came up with this idea: on the 28th, we will attach the name of a missing person like Father Paolo, or of people killed during the war, to a tree in our monastery and in the valley—especially olive and fig trees. We will place small photos, biographical notes, and a QR code that will allow access to a website where each person’s story is narrated in the first person by narrators. We will make a short journey through the valley, a sort of small pilgrimage with reflections, words, and shared prayers.That brief walk, the monks and nuns of Deir Mar Musa write—”embodies our desire for peace; it is a symbolic journey where each person can lay down their wounds and draw strength by walking together.”On July 29, at 10 a.m., in the valley below the monastery, a tent with more than 500 seats will host a Eucharistic concelebration presided over by Syriac Catholic Bishop of Homs Jacques Mourad, a monk of Deir Mar Musa. Other bishops, along with civil authorities, security forces, and representatives of Muslim communities, will also participate. Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio to Syria, and representatives of the current government in Damascus are also expected to attend. After the Mass, in the tent set up in the valley, testimonies about Father Paolo and what his story might mean for Syria’s present. future will be shared. “The focus,” insists Father Jihad, “will be precisely on this: what hope is possible for Syria’s future.”Initiatives also in HomsOther initiatives concerning Father Dall’Oglio are also planned in Homs. In the city where the Syriac Catholic Bishop is now Jacques Mourad, a monk of Deir Mar Musa, a roundtable will be held to discuss Father Paolo’s thought and personality: as a Jesuit, as a monk, and as a passionate Christian lover of Islam.On July 31st, also in Homs, the Jesuits will celebrate the Eucharist on the Feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, marked by reflections and prayers for Father Paolo.On the tenth anniversary of his disappearance, the monks of Mar Musa prayed for Father Paolo in their monastery, along with some of his Jesuit confreres, but without holding public events. Those instead were held in Rome: on July 29, 2023, a Eucharistic concelebration was presided over by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin at the Church of Saint Ignatius in Campo Marzio, attended by Archbishop Mourad, the monks of Deir Mar Musa, and Father Dall’Oglio’s relatives, including his three brothers and four sisters.Wounds re-opened by false “scoops”Work continues—and will take time—on collecting and publishing, also in Arabic, the vast body of material Father Paolo produced before his disappearance: writings, articles, lectures, and interventions, some of which have already been published in the book “My Testament.” On the occasion of the Syrian days dedicated to Father Paolo, a short volume in Arabic is also being released, entitled “A Day of Joy,” words that Pope Francis had cited in his preface to the book “My Testament.” The booklet in Arabic is a precious and simple anthology of short phrases taken from Father Paolo’s writings and speeches.The upcoming events demonstrate how alive and vibrant, despite the pain, the bond of faith remains between Father Paolo and his brothers and sisters through prayer, the Eucharist, and re-reading his writings and words. It is a bond that, at the beginning of June, was also tested by false reports about the alleged discovery of Father Paolo’s body—rumors widely spread by global media.”In those days,” Father Jihad tells Fides today, “so many people contacted me to ask what had happened. I told them I had nothing to say, because there was nothing to say. Now I can say that the episode revealed a serious lack of professionalism. Many stirred the waters without any verification. And they reopened wounds, driven only by the desire to publish a scoop.” (Agenzia Fides, 24/7/2025)
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