Growing concern over plight of missing Jesuit priest in Syria
(Vatican Radio) Italy’s foreign minister says an Italian Jesuit priest missing in
Syria has probably been abducted by an Islamic group. Emma Bonino told state television
Tuesday that the captors of Father Paolo Dall’Oglio appear to be a local version
of al-Qaida and that Italy was working to secure his release.
The Jesuits of
the Middle East earlier issued a statement expressing their deep concern over the
fate of Father Dall’Oglio who went missing a week ago in northern Syria. One Jesuit
priest based in neighbouring Beirut who knows Father Dall’Oglio well is Father Michael
Zammit who spoke to Susy Hodges.
Listen to interview with Father Zammit:
Father Zammit
says it’s a “very worrying” situation, with “a lot of concern” over the plight of
Father Paolo Dall’Oglio. He also describes how the missing Italian priest is strongly
committed to dialogue with the Moslem world and how he founded a monastic community
of men and women which promotes Islamic-Christian dialogue.
Father Zammit
says another of their Jesuit confreres, Father Frans van der Lugt, and the people
he is living with, have been trapped for over a year in a Jesuit residence in the
centre of the Syrian city of Homs. Asked what conditions are like in this particular
district of the city which is still under the control of the rebels, Father Zammit
says the situation is gruelling with “very scarce food” and with Father Frans and
the others living in the residence are having to survive on “rice and other dried
products.” He says their only water comes from that stored in wells. Despite these
trying conditions, Father Zammit reveals how Father Frans has refused to leave the
area unless the people he cares for can leave as well. “It’s a wonderful witness
to what religious life is all about,” he says.