A Meeting Bringing Together Church Leaders and Faithful in an Ecumenical Spirit

*You can find some photos at the end of the text.*

Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

On the occasion of the opening of the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2026," an Ecumenical Prayer Service was held under the theme “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4: 4), hosted by His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Armenian Orthodox Catholicos of Cilicia, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), on Sunday, January 18, 2026, at the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, in the Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator, Antelias - Lebanon.

The Prayer Service, organized and prepared by the Episcopal Committee for Ecumenical Relations of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon, in cooperation with the Middle East Council of Churches, was attended by His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East; His Beatitude Patriarch Mor Ignatius Joseph III Younan, Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, and MECC Honorary President; His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the World, and MECC Honorary President;His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and MECC President for the Evangelical family, Represented by His Eminence Metropolitan Antonios Al Soury, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Zahle, Baalbek and their Dependencies, and Member of the MECC Executive Committee; His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church of Cilicia, and MECC President for the Catholic Family, Represented by Archimandrite Mesrob Hayouni; Reverend Dr. Paul Haidostian, President of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East (UAECNE), President of Haigazian University in Lebanon, and MECC President for the Evangelical Family, Represented by Reverend Nishan Bakalian; His Eminence Monsignor César Essayan, Latin Apostolic Vicar in Lebanon; Father Korkis Youhanna, Representative of the Assyrian Church in Lebanon; and His Excellency Archbishop Paolo Borgia, Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon.

As well as, the Prayer brought together Church Leaders, Bishops, Priests, Pastors, Monks, Nuns, and laypeople Representing various Church Families, including Members of the MECC Executive Committee: His Eminence Metropolitan Antonios Al Soury, His Eminence Archbishop Mor Clemis Daniel Kourieh, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut, Chorbishop Habib Mrad, Lawyer Mr. Ibrahim Traboulsi, and Mr. Jean Salmanian.

Attendees were also the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs, heading a delegation from the MECC General Secretariat that included Associate Secretary General Mrs. Seta Hadeshian, Director of the Theological and Ecumenical Department Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar, Coordinator of the Eco Justice Father Movses (Garen) Yosolkanian, Programs Coordinator at the Theological and Ecumenical Department Ms. Maria Bzdigian, and the MECC media team. This is in addition to Church, social, and cultural personalities, and believers.

The Prayer was led by Father Tanios Khalil, Dean of the Faculty of Religious and Theological Sciences at La Sagesse University in Lebanon, and Secretary of the Episcopal Committee for Ecumenical Relations. The Service was served by the Catholicosate Choir "Armash," which performed many hymns according to the Armenian Orthodox Church Rite.

The Patriarchs entered the Cathedral in a solemn Pontifical procession. Then, the Prayer began according to the booklet of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Prayers and reflections were read the Heads of Churches, as well as the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs, on the intention of the desired Christian unity and for peace in the Middle East and the world.

Following the reading of the Holy Gospel by His Beatitude Patriarch Al-Rai, His Eminence Bishop Paul Rouhana, Patriarchal Vicar of the Maronite Diocese of Sarba in Lebanon, and MECC Honorary Secretary General, delivered a Homily emphasizing the importance of living the spirit of unity and communion that brings the Churches together in all their diversities. He explained the theme of this year's Week of Prayer, "Light from Light for Light," and stressed that the Prayer meeting remind us of the foundations of the shared faith, ensuring its continued relevance here and now. He also noted that the Church is in a continuous process of living its vocation according to these foundations, enriched by its diverse gifts.

For his part, His Eminence Archbishop Youssef Soueif, Archbishop of the Maronite Archdiocese of Tripoli, and President of the Episcopal Committee for Ecumenical Relations, spoke about the importance of praying together and living the spirit of love and fraternity among the Churches. He pointed out that bearing witness to unity is a witness of hope, and that Christian unity is not a fleeting slogan but a daily life lived through Prayer, love, and service. He affirmed that amidst divisions, the Church becomes a sign of God's presence, the light that dispels darkness and the true hope of the world.

At the end, the Patriarchs imparted their final blessing, each according to his own Liturgical Rite, before proceeding in a Pontifical procession to the Catholicosate hall, where a commemorative photo was taken and the attendees met in an atmosphere of love and fraternity.