Professor Michel Abs

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

As if the suffering of the Lebanese people, and the peoples of the region in general, were not enough, the disguised global war, wearing many masks, has come to increase our pain and agony.

Here in Lebanon, and among our neighbors in the blessed yet tormented Antiochian Levant, in the image of the Savior, we have been living through countless crises in our daily lives.

In addition to the political scene, which is beyond detailed description and can only be described in its worst terms, we face the economic and social scenes and all their derivatives.

On the economic front, this is a region stripped of its resources because it is deprived of sovereignty and independence. It cannot manage its resources according to its own interests, from the historical antiquities of our ancestors looted from beneath the ground, to our human resources scattered across the world in search of a better future, to our water, oil, and gas, and everything else we never possessed. Unemployment affects all segments of society, inflation strikes our standard of living due to the arbitrariness of capital owners, and wages are so low that our living conditions approach poverty, except for those who possess wealth, influence, and monopolies. The alliance of ruling groups in political and financial spheres renders the overwhelming majority of the population stripped of will and agency.

Socially, we face communities with fragmented structures on every level: family, regional, religious, sectarian, doctrinal, and ethnic. We have yet to move from the jungle logic, where bonds were based on fanaticism and strength ruled, to a societal logic where social contracts prevail, and merit or justice govern. Our youth are partially migrating due to political and economic reasons, and partially for social reasons concerning their future and aspirations…

The Middle East Council of Churches Among the Speakers

Under the title "The Feast of Creation: A New Liturgical Feast, a Gift for the Third Millennium," a global webinar was held, in the same version, over two consecutive days, Wednesday, March 18, and Thursday, March 19, 2026. It was convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), and other international Ecumenical organizations, with participants from various Church Families and countries around the world.

This event comes as an initiative of hope following the Ecumenical dialogues held in Assisi in 2024, which proposed to elevate the Feast of Creation on September 1 or the first Sunday of this month, to become a Liturgical Feast across all Christian Denominational calendars.

مرصد فلسطين – تقرير الخميس 19 آذار/ مارس 202

In light of the worsening humanitarian and social conditions in the region due to the escalation of security operations, the Middle East Council of Churches presents a weekly report entitled "Palestine Monitor," which includes the latest developments in Palestine, especially amid the deteriorating living, social, and security conditions in the country. Some texts will be in Arabic, and some others in English, depending on the source.

في ظلّ تفاقم الظروف الإنسانيّة والاجتماعيّة في المنطقة جرّاء تصاعد العمليّات الأمنيّة فيها، يقدّم مجلس كنائس الشرق الأوسط تقريرًا أسبوعيًّا بعنوان "مرصد فلسطين" حيث يتضمّن آخر المستجدّات الّتي تشهدها فلسطين خصوصًا وسط تدهور الظروف المعيشيّة والاجتماعيّة والأمنيّة في البلاد. ستكون بعض النصوص باللغة العربية، وبعضها الآخر باللّغة الإنكليزيّة، وذلك حسب المصدر.

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) has launched "Light of Hope," a new bulletin series dedicated to documenting the ongoing ordeal in the Middle East, with a primary focus on the catastrophic situation in Lebanon. This publication serves as a "cry" for the people of the Antiochian Levant who have endured decades of pain.

Produced By MECC

At the behest of the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, the Coordinator of the "Dialogue, Social Cohesion, and Human Dignity" Programs Professor Laure Abi Khalil, was the guest of the Journalist Hala Haddad on Voice of Van Radio Channel, to discuss the Solidarity and Prayer Day for Peace in the Middle East, organized by the Middle East Council of Churches under the title “A Beacon for Human Dignity”.