In 2014, both Syria and Libya were still reeling from the calamity of the Obama/Clinton/Biden interventions in their countries.
One man who suffered while reporting both disasters as a journalist was James Foley. Foley was first imprisoned in Libya in 2011, before travelling to Syria, where he ultimately met his death in 2014.
When he was imprisoned in 2011 in Libya, he prayed the Rosary each day, counting the prayers using his knuckles.
In an article he wrote not long after he said:
I began to pray the rosary. It was what my mother and grandmother would have prayed. I said 10 Hail Marys between each Our Father. It took a long time, almost an hour to count 100 Hail Marys off on my knuckles. And it helped to keep my mind focused.
Clare and I prayed together out loud. It felt energizing to speak our weaknesses and hopes together, as if in a conversation with God, rather than silently and alone. …
One night, 18 days into our captivity, some guards brought me out of the cell. … Upstairs in the warden’s office, a distinguished man in a suit stood and said, “We felt you might want to call your families.”
I said a final prayer and dialed the number. My mom answered the phone. “Mom, Mom, it’s me, Jim.”
“Jimmy, where are you?”
“I’m still in Libya, Mom. I’m sorry about this. So sorry.”
After being considered missing for two years, a British Citizen who was a member of ISIS beheaded James Foley in Syria on August 19th 2014.
Since then, his family have held a Rosary for Peace in his memory.