A moving portrait of a priest who has disappeared—kidnapped?—in Syria

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Aug 02, 2013

In a moving column for the Wall Street Journal, Stephanie Saldana provides some detail for the story of Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, the priest who is now missing in Syria. Saldana, a friend of the Jesuit priest, explains that Father Dall’Oglio was so thoroughly committed to the people of Syria that when he was expelled by the Assad regime, he kept entering the country illegally, continuing to work for peace. He sought to promote understanding between Christians and Muslims; now (if reports are accurate) he has been kidnapped by Islamic rebels. The subhead to the Saldana article sums up the story: “He worked to bring faiths together in a land where that can be fatal.”