Mother of a journalist by ISIS shares her history of forgiveness in the jubilee of consolation

The jubilee of consolation, the first great event of the Holy Year 2025 after the summer pause, will feature the powerful testimony of forgiveness of Diane Foley. His son Jim, who had entered Syria to tell the barbarities of war, was kidnapped by the Islamic State (ISIS) in November 2012.

For 21 long months, in which the terrorists demanded a millionaire rescue for the photojournalist, he only found comfort in the church of San Antonio de Padua (St. Anthony of Padua Parish) in Rochester, New Hampshire.

Every day he approached the temple to pray to God the liberation of his son. But one day came the worst news: on August 19, 2014 his son was beheaded. There was no body to bury. Only a video that went around the world.

A funeral without his son’s body and the trial of the terrorists who murdered him

Even for believers, God acts mysteriously. But the grace experienced by this mother in the parish, her spiritual refuge in those months of uncertainty, accompanied her in everything that came later: the funeral without her son’s body and, years later, the arrest and the judgment of Alexanda Kotey and the Shafee Elsheikh, two of the terrorists responsible for her death.

During the prayer vigil chaired by Pope Leo XIV in the Basilica of San Pedro he will take the word Foley, who has turned his duel into a platform for defense of press freedom and human dignity.

Before tens of thousands of faithful, he will share how he managed to reconcile with his own loss and, surprisingly for many, forgive Alexanda Kotey, one of the jihadists responsible for the death of his son.

Keep your son’s spirit alive

His testimony, collected in the American Mother book, written together with the Irish novelist McCann column, is an intimate narrative of faith and resistance. In August, they were able to present this volume to Pope Leo XIV. Today directs the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation through which he keeps alive the spirit of his son and promotes the defense of journalism in war zones or conflicting countries.

The jubilee of the consolation, convened by the Dicasterio for Evangelization, is aimed at those who go through or have crossed situations of grief, suffering or need. More than 8,500 people, arrivals from Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain, United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and Australia, will pilgrimage to the Holy Gate of the Basilica of San Pedro.

The day culminates at 5:00 p.m. with the liturgy of the word, focused on the parable of the good Samaritan (Mc. 10, 25-37), followed by two testimonies: in addition to Foley, he will take the floor Lucia Di Mauro Montanino, mother of a young man killed by the Naples mafia.

Together with Foley, numerous associations that work with people in duel or vulnerability situation will be present in the jubilee of the consolation: the Association “Figli In Cielo” (children in the sky), the Paolo VI Family House, the Villa Maraini Association, the Italian Association of Victims of Traffic Accidents and “Scintille Di Speranza” (Sentinelas of Hope).

Diane Foley’s testimony will be one of the most anticipated moments of the day. His presence in Rome recalls that forgiveness, although difficult, can become an act of resistance to violence and a seed of hope for others that have lost the most dear.