Father Jihad Youssef, head of the Monastery of Mar Moussa al-Habashi (Saint Moses the Abyssinian), one of the oldest in Syria, on May 28, 2025. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
To reach the monastery of Mar Moussa al-Habashi (Saint Moses the Abyssinian), one of the oldest in Syria, visitors must climb 357 steps carved in the mountain's rocks. Founded in the sixth century, the monastery was restored by Italian Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, a vocal opponent of Bashar al-Assad’s regime who was expelled from Syria in 2012. The following year, he returned clandestinely to opposition-held areas and disappeared in July 2013 while on a mission to Raqqa to negotiate the release of kidnapped activists. The captors were part of a group that would later become the Islamic State.The site, which became a hub for Christian-Muslim dialogue in the 1990s, survives today thanks to the dedication of four monks and two nuns who welcome passing visitors. We spoke with the monastery’s superior, Syriac Catholic Father Jihad...
To reach the monastery of Mar Moussa al-Habashi (Saint Moses the Abyssinian), one of the oldest in Syria, visitors must climb 357 steps carved in the mountain's rocks. Founded in the sixth century, the monastery was restored by Italian Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, a vocal opponent of Bashar al-Assad’s regime who was expelled from Syria in 2012. The following year, he returned clandestinely to opposition-held areas and disappeared in July 2013 while on a mission to Raqqa to negotiate the release of kidnapped activists. The captors were part of a group that would later become the Islamic State.The site, which became a hub for Christian-Muslim dialogue in the 1990s, survives today thanks to the dedication of four monks and two nuns who welcome passing visitors. We spoke with the monastery’s superior, Syriac Catholic Father...