“The Honorable No. (21) Bishop “Paulo Dall’Olio””

Here is the English translation of the text:

• He was born on November 17, 1954, in Rome, Italy.
• In 1975, he joined the Jesuit Order.
• He spent his novitiate period in Italy before attending university to study Arabic in Beirut, Lebanon, and Islamic studies in Damascus, Syria.
• In 1982, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio discovered the Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian, estimated to date back to the sixth century, which had been abandoned since the nineteenth century.
• In 1984, he was ordained as a priest in the Syriac Catholic Church.
• That same year, he earned a degree in Arabic language and Islamic studies from the Oriental University of Naples, and another in Catholic theology from the Gregorian Pontifical University.
• In 1986, he obtained a master’s degree in Missionary Science from the Gregorian Pontifical University.
• In 1989, he received his doctorate from the Gregorian Pontifical University, with his dissertation titled “Hope in Islam.”
• In 1992, he founded the Al-Khalil Community as an ecumenical and monastic compound, situated at the Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian, dedicated to Christian-Muslim dialogue.
• In 2009, he was awarded an honorary dual doctorate from the Catholic University of Leuven.
• Father Paolo regularly contributed to the Popoli magazine, the international magazine of Italian Jesuits, founded in 1915.
• In 2011, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio wrote an article advocating for peaceful democratic transition in Syria, based on what he termed “consensus democracy.”
• Father Paolo also met with opposition activists and participated in the funeral of the 28-year-old Christian filmmaker Bassel Shehadeh, who was killed in Homs during shelling by the Bashar al-Assad regime.
• Bashar al-Assad issued an order for Father Paolo’s expulsion, which he ignored for several months, continuing to live in Syria.
• Father Paolo issued an open letter to the UN Special Envoy Kofi Annan in May 2012.
• In 2012, the Syrian Writers Association awarded him membership in recognition of his role as a cultural figure of the Syrian revolution, defender of human rights, and staunch advocate for human dignity.
• Father Paolo responded to his bishop’s plea to leave the country.
• He left Syria on July 12, 2012, and joined the newly established Monastery of Virgin Mary in Suleimaniya, Kurdistan, Iraq, in exile.
• In October 2012, he was awarded the Peace Prize by the Lombardy Region of Italy, which recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary efforts in peace-building.
• At the Syrian opposition conference held in Cairo on July 30, 2012, the Italian priest Paolo Dall’Oglio was granted Syrian citizenship.
• In late July 2013, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio entered Raqqa, which was under ISIS control, participating in movements advocating for freedom for Syria.
• Accounts differ afterward, but it was widely rumored that he was abducted after meeting with ISIS leaders to negotiate the release of prisoners held by other ISIS leaders on July 29, 2013.
• Most accounts speak of Father Paolo’s execution without evidence by the extremist organization, and his body was reportedly thrown into a pit in Raqqa called “al-Houta.”
• The Syrian Future Movement issued several official statements at that time demanding to reveal his fate.

“We, in the Syrian Future Movement, consider Father Paolo a Syrian national. For his rich and varied religious, humanitarian, revolutionary, and national history, and for standing with his people in their revolution against injustice, tyranny, and extremism, and in gratitude to the great figures and men of Syria, we present the Syrian Future Movement shield this week to the free Syrian son, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, a symbolic Syrian shield carrying our national vision and approach.”