Thirteen years after Father Paolo Dall’Oglio disappeared in Raqqa, Syria, our family still does not know what happened to him.
On July 29, 2013, our brother Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, a Jesuit born in Rome on November 17, 1954, was abducted in Raqqa. Since then, his case has remained unresolved, despite the efforts of many of Paolo’s friends, the Italian government, and the international community.
With a deep knowledge of Arab culture and language and of Islam, Father Paolo devoted his entire, tireless pastoral work and theological study to promoting Muslim-Christian dialogue. The author of numerous publications on the Islamic faith and its relationship with Christianity, Father Paolo was the inspiration behind the revival of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi (Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian), located in a remote, semi-desert area of Syria. The ancient monastery had been abandoned when Paolo first encountered it; he helped restore it and reopen it to the community. For more than thirty years, Father Paolo promoted and led the Deir Mar Musa Monastic Community there, with a vocation centered on interfaith dialogue and hospitality.
It was precisely in interfaith dialogue that Paolo found the essence of his mission in Syria:
“The light advances in each of the many traditions of human religion. If only we could admire the immense work of God in every soul, in every tradition, in every human family, then our souls would expand, our hearts would open, our eyes would fill with tears, and our minds would be swept into a vertigo of freedom.”
His profound pastoral work and social engagement, and his sharing in the suffering of the Syrian people caused by government repression, inevitably led him to become involved in the “Syrian Spring” movement, supporting the restoration of peaceful coexistence and the overcoming of the Assad regime in favor of a pluralistic and democratic system. This led to his expulsion from Syria in June 2012. In July of the following year, he returned covertly to Raqqa, alongside the Syrian resistance movement, with the ultimate view to averting its sliding towards a jihadist takeover that was by that time imminent.
It was there, in Raqqa, that Paolo was abducted on July 29, 2013. Since that day, our family has continued to search for the truth about what happened to him.
More than thirteen years have passed—4,805 days, to be exact—and as of September 24, 2026, there is still no certainty. There have been contradictory reports, beginning with the identity of those who may have abducted him: ISIS, other jihadist groups, or the Syrian regime. Some accounts claim that he was killed shortly after his abduction; others that he was transferred to different locations, possibly as far as Iran; that he was still alive in 2019 as a prisoner of al-Baghdadi during the Kurdish siege of Baghuz; or that he was held by the regime in Damascus, in Mezzeh prison, until the fall of the regime.
But Syria has changed, and with that change comes a renewed opportunity to establish the truth. The fall of the Assad regime may make information, archives, witnesses, and institutional channels that were previously inaccessible available. Access to the former regime’s archives and the testimony of reliable witnesses with firsthand knowledge could finally provide answers.
The commitment of Hostage Aid, which from the early years has helped keep attention focused on his abduction, has been extremely important, and we express our deepest gratitude. We must not stop searching for information.
It is time for those who know the truth to speak. First and foremost, witnesses, but also the states that were involved in the Syrian theater of war through 2024, including, among others, the United States, Russia, Iran, and Turkey.
The quest for the truth is now more achievable than ever. There is a family that needs answers, together with many Syrians, Muslim and non-Muslim, for whom Paolo Dall’Oglio remains a man who courageously was prepared to give his life for Syria, the country he had made his own.
Following the fall of the Assad regime, a new political context has emerged. Syria is now moving forward on a challenging path toward democracy. Relations with the United States, Europe, and the countries of the Arab League have changed; sanctions have been lifted; and an agreement has been reached between the central government and the Kurds. Nevertheless, the economic situation remains dire, and the trauma of years of conflict continues to affect the country’s different ethnic and religious communities.
For us as his family, it is deeply comforting to read that Hind Kabawat, the only woman minister in the Syrian government, has described Paolo as her “mentor” and said that he was the one who taught her the value of exchange and dialogue. As Minister of Social Affairs, Minister Kabawat does not conceal the enormous difficulties now facing Syria’s transitional government. Yet the profound faith in interreligious dialogue promoted by Paolo—whose photograph hangs in her office—leads her to say:
“In the life of every Muslim or Christian, there is a Christian doctor, teacher, or friend, and vice versa.”
The silence surrounding our brother’s fate is therefore even more paradoxical, considering Paolo’s prominence as a man committed to dialogue with the Muslim world and to building a just and inclusive peace.
His nonviolent commitment to denouncing the horrors caused by violent repression made him a hero to Muslim revolutionaries and others.
When the uprising began in Syria in 2011, Paolo openly supported those fighting for civil and democratic rights. His position brought him into direct conflict with the Assad regime, which ultimately expelled him from Syria on June 12, 2012.
Shortly before his expulsion, Paolo presented his appeal directly to the then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, calling for every possible effort to prevent civil war in Syria.
After his expulsion, he also appealed to European governments and others in an effort to prevent the outbreak of a bloody war that would lead to thousands of deaths and the destruction of Syria—a prediction that, unfortunately, came to pass.
His relations with the Eastern Christian Churches also became more distant as a result of his position in support of the legitimate demands of the uprising.
No one has ever claimed responsibility for his abduction, and there is no conclusive evidence confirmed by firsthand testimony, nor has his body been found or his survival established.
In July 2019, the United States offered a reward of five million dollars for information concerning his fate.
The change of regime opened a new possibility for our family to pursue answers directly in Syria. In October 2025, I traveled personally to Damascus with our cousin Luca, a former United Nations official, to continue the search for the truth about Paolo’s fate.
With the support of the Italian Embassy in Syria, we formally submitted Paolo’s case to the National Commission for the Missing in the Syrian Arab Republic, chaired by Dr. Mohammad Reda Jalki. During the same visit, we also held working meetings with representatives of the Consular Offices at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the United Nations Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP), represented by its head, Dr. Karla Quintana; and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Delegate Mr. Stephan Sakalian.
Although these meetings produced no official breakthrough, they left us with the clear impression that the institutions involved remain committed to finding answers about Paolo. Materials gathered by our family were exchanged, including information from the judicial investigation initiated by Italy, material received from Syrian friends, and information gathered from press reports over the thirteen years since his abduction.
We are deeply grateful to the institutions and organizations that continue to follow Paolo’s case and support the search for answers, including the Italian government, the National Commission for the Missing in the Syrian Arab Republic, the IIMP, ICRC, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) under the Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the Syrian Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC).
Today, through Hostage Aid, I want to renew our family’s appeal: we must not stop searching for the truth. Those who witnessed what happened to Paolo, or who have firsthand knowledge of his fate, should come forward. Governments and institutions that hold relevant information should disclose it. Archives that may contain answers should be opened. If information about Paolo has remained secret until now, the time has come for it to be revealed.
After thirteen years, our family is still waiting. Somewhere, someone may know what happened to Paolo. It is only right that the truth finally be known about the fate of a good man who devoted his life to peace, dialogue, and the rights of others—our brother.
Francesca Dall’Oglio
Rome, September 24, 2026
By: Francesca Dall’Oglio – Sister of Father Paolo Dall’Oglio (Kidnapped in Syria since July 2013)
