Paolo Dall'Oglio

Who is Paolo Dall'Oglio?

Father Paolo Dall'Oglio is an Italian Jesuit priest and peace activist. He was exiled from Syria by the government of Bashar al-Assad in 2012 for meeting with members of the opposition and criticizing the actions of the al-Assad regime during the Syrian civil war. He was kidnapped by rebels on 29 July 2013.

Before his exile, he had served for three decades at the Deir Mar Musa, a 6th-century monastery 80 kilometres north of Damascus. He has been credited with the reconstruction of the Mar Musa complex and its reinvention as a centre of interfaith dialogue.