Vatican says report of death of Jesuit in Syria unconfirmed

A Vatican spokesperson said that neither the Vatican nor the Italian government have any confirmation of reports that Italian Jesuit Fr Paolo Dall’Oglio, a vocal critic of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, has been killed in Syria, reports NCR.

Multiple reports cite the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claiming that Dall’Oglio, a pioneer in Muslim/Christian relations who lived in Syria for 30 years, had been executed by jihadist rebels in the city of ar-Raqqah.

“Activists in the city, and who are close to Father Paolo, have confirmed that the Italian Jesuit priest and the messenger of peace Father Paolo Dall'Oglio has been killed while in the prisons of the ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Levante], where he has been held for over two weeks,” the observatory said.

Lama al-Atassi, secretary general for the Syrian National Front, an opposition party, also wrote on her Facebook page today that Dall’Oglio had been executed.

Reached for comment by NCR, Basilian Fr. Thomas Rosica, who assists the Vatican with English-language media, said this morning there is “absolutely no confirmation” of that report, and that both the Vatican and the Italian government are seeking additional confirmation.

A 58-year-old Jesuit missionary, Dall’Oglio arrived in Syria in 1982 and spent much of his time rebuilding an abandoned 6^th century monastery called Deir Mar Musa, turning it into a center for Muslim-Christian friendship.