Lest Darkness Overtake Us
Professor Michel Abs
Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches
09.06.2025 – Press Conference for the Launch of Satellite Broadcasting
In the era of knowledge, the true power of humanity, communication and media are the primary tools for spreading this knowledge to people, thus combating ignorance and obscurantism, which lead to various social ills such as fanaticism, racism, prejudice, and hate speech.
In this era of knowledge, which both drives and benefits from technological advancement, it is unacceptable for people, not anyone, to be unaware of the affairs of life, each according to their field or interest.
The responsibility of disseminating knowledge is a supreme and serious one. Sociology recognizes that the media today surpasses parents, schools, and institutions in shaping and spreading values within society, making its role in socialization central, a value-shaping force.
This is where the danger of media misinformation lies, which is considered a crime punishable by the world’s laws, for manipulating minds and distorting facts are intellectual crimes no less serious than legally recognized offenses.
On the other hand, as a social researcher before being an ecumenical leader, I consider that hiding knowledge by withholding information constitutes an implicit crime, and at times an actual one, if it leads to harm or damage. Thus, the responsibility to transmit and broadcast knowledge, for the benefit of all, is a human, national, and religious duty.
How many decisions have been unjust, incomplete, or misplaced due to a lack of information?
How much waste occurs in human life because of incomplete knowledge in a given field?
In modern times, media is the primary means of transmitting knowledge to society, participating in the formation of public opinion—which is often misled—and thus helping society make major choices.
On the religious level, with religion being a foundational element in society and its value system, media has become the primary tool for spreading doctrine and religious thought, in addition to its role in introducing people to religious culture and traditions. We now see the depth and scope of the religious dimension across all media: satellite channels, radio, internet, and social media. It is also important to note the significance of the audiobook, which is widely used as a tool for religious education, with people listening during long trips.
In short, religious media has penetrated all fields and is capable of reaching every corner of the earth.
From the first generation, the apostles recognized the importance of communication and media in the mission entrusted to them by the Incarnate Lord—to preach to the nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Christianity, historically, has used all available means of communication to spread its message of salvation and to strengthen the community of believers. It employed techniques to disseminate faith to new groups and used group dynamics to organize and unify believers. Rhetoric, dialogue, chanting, singing, music, and other communication techniques have accompanied the journey of spreading the message of salvation and continue to do so.
Today, with the advent of modern communication technologies that have crossed borders and cultures, the reach of our voices is much broader, the pace much faster, and the volume of transmitted content much greater. The Church has benefited from this expansion and invested it in its educational and cultural work.
The Middle East Council of Churches, and before it, the Near East Council of Churches since the 1960s, has known how to invest these technical resources in its shared Christian, or ecumenical, mission.
From the start, the MECC gave utmost importance to communication. Media offices and departments have accompanied each stage of its professional and administrative development, with an abundance of media staff and advanced equipment. The Council’s production center—originally based at the Near East School of Theology—was a leading site for audiovisual production from the 1970s to the 1990s, until, unfortunately, it was closed for reasons not to be discussed now.
Throughout that period, media work accompanied all MECC activities, producing a large archive that Tele Lumiere–Noursat kindly copied to hard drives to preserve and make available to interested institutions and researchers. What was then called the Council’s studio became a hub for many media and communication professionals. As a related note, a colleague in the communication department produced a documentary about this distinguished media center, which, for more than two decades, housed a select group of audiovisual production professionals. The documentary is available to those interested, and today we aspire to reach the same level of equipment and performance—while recognizing the differences in eras.
What we are undertaking today is a new step along new paths, with various stages that deserve attention, all marked by the clear imprint of Tele Lumiere–Noursat:
The first track was equipping the Council offices here in Ras Beirut with the necessary tools to create an audiovisual production center. Built upon this was the establishment of “Minbar Al-Kalima,” (Platform of the Word) from which all intellectual and cultural activities are launched.
A parallel track was transforming the Council’s media legacy into materials that can be read, edited, or renewed, along with providing the Council with media materials from the Tele Lumiere–Noursat archives.
The second track is hosting the Council’s programs on Télé Lumière–Noursat’s satellite and radio waves for specific periods each day, to be increased as production and content grow. Today, we are launching this second track.
This is accompanied by ongoing training for the human resources working in this field, in addition to general professional training within the MECC.
This satellite and radio broadcast, which we intended to launch on Pentecost—a symbol we adopted for the Council’s fiftieth anniversary last year—is what we are engaged in today.
The technical teams from both institutions are working diligently to begin broadcasting soon and to deliver what we wish to deliver to those who have ears to hear, eyes to see, and a spirit and mind seeking the truth that sets us free.
This channel will be the resounding voice of shared Christian and social concerns, focused on delivering good words and positive messages to those who long for them. Its programming will be supervised by a committee chaired by Father Dr. Rifaat Badr, Executive Committee Representative for Communication and Media Affairs, and includes experts from the member churches representing the Council’s four church families, in coordination with the Secretary General, as is the case with all MECC committees.
Disseminating knowledge and promoting good patterns of thinking and behavior in society are among the Church’s primary tasks, for knowledge is the light the Lord commanded us to walk in while we have it—so we walk lest darkness overtake us, for those who walk in darkness do not know where they are going. Knowledge is light and truth.
Nor can faith—the lamp placed in secret or under a bushel; rather, we must set it on a stand to illuminate all in the house.
May the Lord grant us success in fulfilling His commandments.