My comments presented here are based upon the reflections given by the Monastic Community of Deir Mar Musa el-Habashi in Syria to the Lineamentaprepared for Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, which I consider still to be important, even after publication of theInstrumentum Laboris, I present them here, together with the text I wrote on the basis of my impressions of the latter, after our discussions in London. I would wish to stress here that the Lineamenta and the Instrumentum Laboris are both full of interesting insights. However, our role here is not simply to reiterate them, but rather to state what we think is either missing or insufficiently emphasised. Our approach is always intended to be constructive, even when critiquing the documents.

Alliance of Civilizations High-Level Symposium, Auckland 24^th of May 2007

Paolo Dall’Oglio

Considering the fact that the members of this High Level Group are outstanding and known representatives of academic and political worlds, I had to address a question to myself: What can it mean, this invitation to the leader of a very local experience in Syria, the leader of something still not 'fixed' either ecclesiastically or socially, committed nonetheless to Christian/Islamic harmony building, in the desert mountains of Syria, to the mission of the Alliance of Civilizations?

Interview with Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, winner of the 2006 Euro-Mediterranean Award for Dialogue on ‘Mutual respect amongst people of different religions or any other belief’ for the Deir Mar Musa Monastery, Syria’: questions Dr. Traugott Schoefthaler(TS), Executive Director of the Anna Lindh Foundation.

Deir Mar Musa, 26 July 2006
Father Paolo Dall’Oglio


To the Honorable President of the Council of Ministers,
Professor Romano Prodi
Palazzo Chigi
Roma

From Damascus: By Bus:Take a taxi to Garajat Halab (Qabun) and ask for the bus An Nebek. The journey lasts around an hour. By Car: Take the main highway north in the direction of Homs. Nebek is clearly marked and lies to the east of the road approximately 80km north of Damascus.

Dear friends

This is the start of the new Website of Deir Mar Musa, it will be -hopefully- much more dynamic than the old one. But this did not depend on the website but on me, Brother Jens.

We, the community al-Khalil, will try to collaborate more to keep this site up to date and we will try as much as possible to involve also you for discussions and translations.

There are still many informations to put on this site I hope that it will continuously grow over the next weeks.

A Message to Jesuits Involved in Muslim-Christian Relations