“Momentum”

30-1-2026

This issue includes reports, videos, news, articles, and a full coverage of the latest developments of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), as well as the Church, Ecumenical, and social events…

This is in addition to the weekly word of the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs which is entitled in this issue "Ecumenism: A Reflective Pause Along a Long Journey". It is the speech he delivered at the Ecumenical Prayer Service held on the occasion of the Closing of the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity," on Sunday, January 25, 2026, at the Archangel Raphael Chaldean Cathedral, Baabda - Lebanon.

You can check the issue via the following link: https://mailchi.mp/df327238da53/momentum-mecc-weekly-newsletter.

You can also subscribe to the Momentum Newsletter via the following link:

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Professor Michel Abs

Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

Today we conclude the prayers of the Week of Christian Unity at St. Raphael Chaldean Cathedral—a church of martyrs, like St. Ephrem the Syrian Church, where we prayed two days ago, and like the Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator at the Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, where we opened the Week of Prayer. It is as though blood has been our means and martyrdom our destiny: we offer our lives in defense of humanity and as a path to its salvation. The purest testimony is the testimony of blood.

Today we pray in the presence of the spirit of Mar Addai and Mar Mari, among the earliest saints and evangelizers of the Church of the East in the first century AD, founders of the Church in Beth Nahrain (Mesopotamia) and Persia. Mar Addai was one of the Seventy-Two disciples whom the Apostle Thomas sent to Edessa (Urfa), and he became its first bishop. Mar Mari was his disciple, who continued evangelization throughout Beth Nahrain—present-day Iraq—and founded the Church in Mosul. They share a renowned liturgy known as the Liturgy of Addai and Mari, one of the oldest Christian liturgies still in use in the Chaldean and Assyrian Churches.

We pray today under the care of the active shepherd of this blessed eparchy and with its team—an eparchy whose history now spans a century and a half. We thank them for their hospitality and commend their efforts in welcoming successive waves of displacement over past decades—efforts that, I am convinced, continue to this day, though at a lesser pace, given the numerical decline of the faithful in their lands of origin.

As we conclude the one hundred and eighteenth Week of Prayer for Unity, we are called to pause and reflect on this journey, attempting to outline an evaluative perspective—especially since criticisms of it persist, and some reject it outright. Every opinion has its place, and every scholarly opinion deserves respect, provided it is expressed through accepted and civil means…

Cairo, January 29, 2026

"When, O Lord and God, the sweet fragrance of Your love fills us and our souls are enlightened by the knowledge of Your truth, we become worthy to receive the Transfiguration of Your Beloved Son from heaven. We thank You and praise You in Your crowned Church, overflowing with the abundance of Your grace and blessings, for You are the Lord and Creator of all, now and forever."

Prayers, hymns, petitions, and readings marked the sixth day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2026, held at Our Lady of Fatima Chaldeans Cathedral in Cairo.

The Prayer was presided over by the Chaldean Patriarchal Administrator in Egypt Bishop Paul Sati, with the participation of Archbishop George Chihane, Maronite Archbishop of Cairo for Egypt and Sudan, and Bishop Dr. Damaskinos Al-Azrai, Bishop of Mariout, Greek Orthodox Patriarchal Vicar in Alexandria and Member of the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), Bishop Krikor Augustinos Koussa, Coptic Catholic Bishop of Alexandria, Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, Secretary General of the Egyptian Council of Churches Reverend Yeshua Yacoub, MECC Honorary Secretary General Dr. Gergis Saleh, MECC Associate Secretary General Reverend Refaat Fikry, Reverend Fayez Nad, Member of the Priests and Pastors Committee on behalf of the Episcopal Church and Member of the Week of Prayer Committee, Father Youhanna Saad, Member of the Week of Prayer Committee and Member of the Priests and Parish Committee on behalf of the Catholic Church; Father Nabil Rafoul, Priest of St. Rita Church in Heliopolis, Father Michael Selim, Franciscan, Father Rafik Jreich, Member of the Media Committee at the Egyptian Council of Churches , Sheikh Victor, Member of the Week of Prayer Committee on behalf of  the Evangelical Church, Professor Laure Abi Khalil, Coordinator of Dialogue, Social Cohesion, and Human Dignity Programs at MECC, Journalist Lea Adel Maamary, Coordinator of Church Relations and Media at MECC, Marta Fayez, Member of the Women's Committee at the Egyptian Council of Churches, Noura Edward, Member of the Week of Prayer Committee and Member of the Women's Committee at the Egyptian Council of Churches on behalf of the Orthodox Church, and Mr. Emad Ayad, Member of the Week of Prayer Committee on behalf of the Catholic Church.

In Our Lady of Fatima Chaldean Cathedral_ Cairo

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, from Our Lady of Fatima Chaldean Cathedral_ Cairo: "

The Week of Christian Unity is part of a global Ecumenical tradition. We all yearn for Christian unity, but we live within and through it, and all our Prayers and joint activities affirm this.”