Seventy years after his birth, Card. Zenari remembers the founder of Mar Musa, who remains his “most living legacy.” The drama of the displaced and refugees, the ongoing war and the devastation of the earthquake add to the issue of the missing. The increasingly frequent Israeli incursions have severed the connection with Lebanon, which represents “an umbilical cord.” Pope Francis and the martyrs of Damascus “a breath of fresh air.”
Rome () – “In addition to the memory, a monastery remains of him [de Mar Musa] which he rose from the ruins, which he restored with great skill and competence. And then this community that he founded: although reduced in number, it continues with its spirit of interreligious dialogue and is still today a goal on the mountain that attracts [a peregrinos y fieles]”This is the most vivid and also the most symbolic legacy that he left.” This is how Cardinal Mario Zenari, apostolic nuncio in Syria, expressed to , more than eleven years after the mysterious disappearance of the Roman Jesuit priest Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio, who would have turned 70 on November 17. Born in Rome in 1954, with years of missionary work in the Arab country behind him, he disappeared on July 29, 2013 and there has been no further news of him, although rumors about his condition have multiplied in the past. although none of them have ever been reliable. “His brave voice is missing,” adds the cardinal, “which probably bothered some people.”
“Some agreed with him, others not so much, however he was a very influential personality,” says Cardinal Zenari, recalling the mission of the Roman Jesuit in Syria, in dramatic years characterized by war and jihadist violence. “However, from the monastery he left a very beautiful and symbolic legacy” that remains as alive as his memory and the attempt to shed light on his destiny and that of many others in Syria, Christians and non-Christians alike. Furthermore, the issue of the “disappeared” has been raised repeatedly by the Church, while in June last year the UN General Assembly approved the creation of a “independent body». The unfinished goal was to “shed light” on the 100,000 people (or more) who disappeared during the darkest and most violent years of the conflict.
Among them was Father Dall’Oglio, Roman Jesuit and founder of the community of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashio, in the north, about 80 kilometers from Damascus, whose last traces led to Raqqa, then a bastion of the “Caliphate” in Syria. Charismatic figure of Islamic-Christian dialogue, the clergyman disappeared on the night of July 28 to 29, 2013 after having entered the Isis headquarters for a confrontation and advocating for the release of several hostages – among them Christians – in the hands of the jihadists. The Roman Jesuit is joined by the two bishops of Aleppo: the Syrian Orthodox bishop Yohanna Ibrahim and the Greek Orthodox bishop Boulos Yaziji, of whom nothing has been heard since April 22, 2013, kidnapped in Kafr Dael. According to witnesses, they were negotiating the release of the Father Michel Kayyal and Father Maher Mahfouz, kidnapped in February of the same year. When they reached a roadblock, the car was flanked by armed men who fired shots, killing the driver.
“In these 11 years,” recalls the nuncio in Damascus, “we have tried to follow all the leads, at least those that gave greater guarantees, but until now we have not reached any truth.” And each year that passes – he acknowledges – puts hope more and more strained” for him, as for “the two metropolitans of Aleppo who disappeared a few months before, along with priests and many Christians in a sad picture because they represent another drama linked to the war”.
Anomalous kidnappings, which were not followed by demands or negotiations for their release, and which are part of the events that have marked the bloodiest phase of the war, with jihadist groups on the ground to inflame the situation. On the tenth anniversary of the disappearance, April 22, 2013, the Syrian Church instituted a “ecumenical day” for the missing, reviving a delicate issue in the hope – in vain – for news about their fate. On the occasion of Fr. Dall’Oglio’s 70th birthday in Rome, a documentary will be screened that tells the story of the founder of Mar Musa, a man of dialogue and listening. The path of Fr. Dall’Oglio continues in Syria, and Fr. Jihad Youssef, who has collected his legacy at the head of the Syrian monastic community (Click here to see the full footage) recently spoke at a meeting organized by the PIME Center of Milan, relaunching a message of meeting and testimony that remains current.
Meanwhile, the situation in Syria remains dramatic, although international news has now shifted its attention to Gaza and Lebanon. “There is the drama of internally displaced persons, some seven million, who join the refugees in neighboring countries, some six million, for a total of displaced persons and refugees of 13 million, an impressive figure,” stressed Cardinal Zenari, who leads Syria to “hold this sad record.” “Many of these displaced people are displaced several times,” he continues, “because they move from one bombed place to another, with enormous problems finding accommodation,” especially for those who had expatriated to Lebanon and are now returning. “According to UN agencies,” says the cardinal, “70% of these 530,000 are Syrian, the remaining 30% Lebanese or other nationalities, a tragedy within another tragedy.” In addition, there are the unresolved consequences of the earthquake [de febrero de 2023 entre Siria y Turquía]the war that began 14 years ago and has not yet ended. At night, and during the day, we wake up or hear the increasingly frequent Israeli incursions here in Damascus, as in other places in Syria, because they have also hit the main access routes to Lebanon, which for us represented an umbilical cord to take planes or travel.
Another critical element is represented by the “six foreign armies operating in Syria,” observes the nuncio, although until now “they have stayed away from getting involved in the conflict.” Certainly,” he adds, “keeping six foreign armies at bay can be imagined how difficult it is for a government, especially the Syrian one, which is quite weak.” Hence the option of many, still today, especially among young people, to emigrate abroad. “We have had an exodus of Christians,” he says, “about two-thirds have left or are leaving in recent weeks, and the majority are young.” In a panorama with gloomy overtones, the cardinal concludes by highlighting an element of joy: “The proclamation of the 11 saints martyrs of Damascus in 1860 made by Pope Francis. On that occasion, nearly 3,000 Christians were murdered along with these 11, among them eight Franciscan religious and three Maronite lay brothers. They represent a radiance, a breath of fresh air in the midst of this greyness, in particular – he concludes – for the Church. I hope that his story and his memory have broken this curtain of silence and oblivion around Syria, to those who have given testimony of fidelity in blood.
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