Family of kidnapped Jesuit priest appeal for news

(Vatican Radio) The family of Italian Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio have appealed to those responsible for his kidnapping one year ago in Syria to release him or give them news about his fate.
59 year old Father Dall’Oglio went missing on July 29, 2013 in Raqqa in the north of the country, in an area under the control of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

Though rumors have been rife, there has been no reliable news of his whereabouts or well-being since his disappearance. The missionary had been living for three decades at the 6th-century monastery Deir Mar Musa which he helped to restore and turn into a center for interfaith dialogue.

To mark the first anniversary of his kidnapping, Father Dall’Oglio’s family has launched a video appeal on YouTube calling for his release or at the very least, news about what happened to him.

Read the family’s press release:

Padre Paolo Dall’Oglio: a year of waiting

“One year has already passed since we last knew of our son and brother Paolo, priest, Jesuit, Italian, who disappeared in Syria on July 29th 2013. This has also been a long time, too long, for a land ravaged by war and infinite suffering like Syria.

We ask those responsible for the disappearance of a good man, a man of faith, a man of peace, to have the dignity to let us know of his fate. We would like to once again hold him in our arms, however we are also prepared to mourn him.

Tomorrow, 29th of July, one year after his disappearance, many of us will be praying for him and standing by him, as we will be doing for those who have been kidnapped, unjustly detained and for the many who are suffering because of this war.”