Italy – Ansa, July 29, 2026
He Tried to Negotiate with ISIS. Astalli Center: “His Legacy Lives On.”
Many people are commemorating today Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, the Jesuit priest dedicated to interfaith dialogue who disappeared in Syria exactly 13 years ago, on July 29, 2013.
“Though questions about his fate remain unanswered, his legacy lives on,” wrote the Astalli Center—the Jesuit Refugee Service in Italy—on its social media channels. “Today, his example continues to inspire us.”
Born in Rome on November 17, 1954, Father Dall’Oglio re-established the Syriac Catholic monastic community Al-Khalil at Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi (the Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian) in Syria during the 1980s. The monastery revived a cenobitic and eremitic monastic tradition dating back to the sixth century.
The latest developments regarding the Roman Jesuit date back to June of last year, when reports claiming that his remains had been found ultimately proved inconclusive and were never confirmed.
