Final Statement

of the Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches

Beirut, July 9 and 10, 2025

The Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches held its regular meeting in Beirut on Wednesday and Thursday, July 9 and 10, 2025, chaired by His Eminence Anba Antonios, Metropolitan of Jerusalem and the Near East for the Coptic Orthodox and MECC President for the Oriental Orthodox family, represented by His Eminence Bishop Daniel Kourieh, Metropolitan of Beirut and Dependencies for the Syriac Orthodox; and His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for the Greek Orthodox and MECC President for the Orthodox family, represented by His Eminence Bishop Antonios Souri, Metropolitan of Zahle, Baalbek and Dependencies; and Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian, President of the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East and Council President for the Evangelical family; and His Beatitude Patriarch Raphael Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos-Patriarch of Cilicia for the Armenian Catholics and Council President for the Catholic family; with the participation of Executive Committee members from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, and Palestine, representing the member churches of the Council; Secretary General Professor Michel Abs; associate Secretaries General; and the General Secretariat staff including directors, section heads, and administrators. After the presentation of the report by Secretary General Professor Michel Abs, he was congratulated for his vision, activity, field presence, and praised for his wisdom in managing the Council’s affairs.

At the start of the meeting, the participants observed a minute of silence and prayed for the souls of the martyrs of St. Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Dweilaa, Damascus, who fell as a result of the terrorist bombing. The participants condemned all forms of violence from any source and strongly denounced hate speech, extremism, racism, and the ongoing acts of violence against all of humanity.

In this context, the participants made a solidarity visit to His Beatitude Patriarch John X at the Our Lady of Balamand Patriarchal Monastery, offering their support and condolences to His Beatitude for the righteous martyrs.

The delegation affirmed that the blood of the martyrs is one and that the crime is to be condemned—it does not target Christians alone but the entire Syrian social fabric and the historic model of coexistence. The delegation expressed their solidarity with His Beatitude and the families of the martyrs, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.

For his part, His Beatitude Patriarch John X sincerely thanked the Beatitudes, Graces, and Executive Committee members for their gesture and solidarity with all the sons and daughters of the Antiochian See in this painful ordeal, affirming that the blood shed at St. Elias Church is the blood of all the components of Syrian society. His Beatitude also expressed hope that the new Syria will be filled with human dignity, since human dignity and the respect of rights are a priority for everyone.

The participants called for an end to the war, aggression, and genocide in Gaza, and condemned in the strongest terms the settler attacks in the West Bank and restrictions on Palestinians. They also called on world political leaders to act quickly and seriously to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, deliver aid to the afflicted Palestinian people in Gaza and all the Palestinian territories, and support all efforts for a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue, affirming the importance of the Hashemite custodianship over the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

The participants praised the efforts of officials in Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq to promote stability, freedom, justice, and human rights, calling for the establishment of peace, security, citizenship, and safety throughout the region. They encouraged members of the churches to remain steadfast in faith and in their homeland despite all difficulties.

They also called for an end to the civil war in Sudan and reiterated the call for the reunification of the island of Cyprus. They affirmed their solidarity with the position of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem for the Greek Orthodox on the issue of ownership of the Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai.

This statement comes in the year marking the Jubilee of 2025 for the birth of Jesus Christ and the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. The Council looks forward to strengthening initiatives for comprehensive Christian unity—a unity of hearts and fraternity to serve the churches, their institutions, and the communities where they are present.

The participants affirmed that the holding of the Executive Committee meeting crowned the Council’s fiftieth anniversary, and they concluded by raising thanks to Almighty God, who blessed their meeting and work and accompanied them. They implored Him, as the God of peace, to spread His peace upon the world, to make it safer—especially in the Middle East, where conflicts persist and peoples suffer—so that voices of hatred and guns are silenced, crises and prolonged hardships end, stability and reassurance prevail, and the Gospel verse that we always hold to remains before us: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).