VATICAN CITY — The Islamic State’s beheading in August of the journalist James Foley stirred global outrage, fury and despair. But for many of his fellow Roman Catholics, Mr. Foley’s death in Syria transformed him into a symbol of faith under the most brutal of conditions.
One Catholic essayist compared him to St. Bartholomew, who died for his Christian faith. Others were drawn to Mr. Foley’s account of praying the rosary during an earlier captivity in Libya. Even Pope Francis, in a condolence call to Mr. Foley’s parents, described him as a martyr, according to the family.
Then came an unexpected twist: It turned out that Mr. Foley was among several hostages in Syria who had converted to Islam in captivity, according to some freed captives. What had been among some Catholics a theological discussion of faith and heroic resistance quickly shifted to a different set of questions:
Is any conversion under such duress a legitimate one? Why would a man who had spoken so openly about his Catholic faith turn to Islam? Given his circumstances, is it even surprising if he did?
“How do we assess that?” asked the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at large of the Catholic magazine America, who described Mr. Foley as “a good and holy man” and expressed doubts about the genuineness of his conversion. “The answer is we can’t assess it. We cannot look at what is in someone’s soul.”
–
Nicole Tung, a photographer who worked closely with Mr. Foley in Syria, described his faith as “deep within him” and said he knew the Bible so well that he often had broad discussions with Syrians comparing Christianity with Islam.
But Ms. Tung said she thought Mr. Foley would be uncomfortable with being considered a martyr. She described his journalism as commingled with a powerful compassion: He helped raise $14,000 to buy an ambulance for children in Aleppo, Syria, just as he helped organize an earlier fund-raiser for the family of Mr. Hammerl, the photographer who was killed in Libya.
“As a humanitarian and as a journalist,” Ms. Tung said, “was really how he conducted himself.”
A version of this article appears in print on February 22, 2015, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: A Test of Faith in Brutal Captivity. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
Go to Home Page »
