A Prayer for Unity under the auspices of the Syriac Community in al-Fayhaa
The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs delivered this speech at the Ecumenical meeting held on the occasion of the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity," on Thursday, January 22, 2026, at the St. Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church, Tripoli, Lebanon.
Professor Michel Abs
Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)
Between the eighteenth and the twenty-fifth of January each year, Christians around the world gather to pray for unity among Christians, as the members of the Church were first called in Great Antioch, in obedience to the Lord’s command that we be one, just as He is one with the Father.
Tonight we gather in the Church of Saint Ephrem, the Harp of the Holy Spirit, to address the Almighty Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the Light begotten of Light, the theme of this year’s Week of Prayer—and to proclaim that we are one in You. Thus, we are one in the Father, united among ourselves and united with the members of our societies, with whom we share a life united in interests, united in destiny, and united in values.
In the presence of the bishops of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, we have gathered to pray together, fully aware of the importance of praying together and of living hope together, a hope we extend to all humankind, for the Lord who came as an atonement for our sins, came for all people.
To pray together means that we have overcome past mistakes and forgiven historical sins, and that we have come to understand that “every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” How much more, then, when we speak of the Kingdom of the Father and the house of the Lord?
He is the Spirit of Truth, present among us, inspiring us to walk in justice and reason, to overcome our differences, and to be united in our humanity, just as we are united in His divinity.
What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and loses his soul?
All humanity looks to us to rescue it from the error into which it has gone too far, to be a light that illuminates its path, a ray of hope and love for a better tomorrow, and a safeguard against the spread of evil and the destruction of our consciences. Therefore, we cannot be divided, fragmented, or dispersed into sects and denominations. Before the majesty of the Father, before His Cross and Resurrection, and before His teachings, we can only be one.
Today I stand before the altar of a Church that has endured every form of suffering, that lost hundreds of thousands of its faithful, was uprooted from its homes, monasteries, churches, and all it possessed, and was scattered across every corner of the world.
I address you today from before an altar belonging to those whose blood and the blood of their families was shed before their very eyes, yet who did not retreat a single step from their faith, nor deviate by a hair’s breadth from their path.
I speak to you while the events of Sayfo stand vividly before my eyes. I know them in their precise details; I live the suffering of those who endured them; and I reflect inwardly that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the Church of the Lord when it includes believers of such caliber and scholars of such stature.
Sayfo was a decisive turning point in the history of Christianity among the people of the Antiochian Levant, among the cities, towns, and villages of the northern Antiochian regions, where this massacre erased the geographical human presence from areas such as Tur Abdin and its beautiful surroundings, adorned with faith and learning, even though the Kingdom of these people was never of this world.
The civilization of the people of Sayfo left its mark on entire regions. The dialect of northern Lebanon and of other areas of Bilad Al Châm bears witness to this. It is a civilization that reached India and Africa, and its traces remain present in our culture to this day. Its language descends directly from the language of the Lord and is still used to address the Creator and give Him thanks.
As for the sister people of Sayfo, the Armenians of Cilicia, they were subjected to the same practices during the same historical period. They saw their families annihilated, their civilization confiscated after its destruction; they were expelled from their homes and lands and scattered to the four corners of the world. This faithful, steadfast, and patient people produced this year’s prayer texts for the Week of Unity, imprinting them with their culture, beautiful writings, hymns, and deeply moving melodies.
We are one in Christ, for, as stated in the text of the prayer for the fifth day, “the act of baptism establishes Christian unity, as it marks individuals’ entry into communion with the Church and affirms their shared commitment to the one Lord. Baptism creates the Church’s collective identity, because we are all one in the body of the Lord.” This unity “remains firm despite the diversity of members’ backgrounds,” simply because “their unity in faith and baptism transcends all divisions.” Therefore, “the Church can celebrate its diversity while remaining steadfast in its unity,” since “priority is given to our shared identity in Christ over our differences.”
Tonight, we pray in Tripoli al-Fayhaa, where the very accent bears witness to the deep-rooted presence of Syriac culture, the Serto language, the language of the Western Syriacs.
Tripoli is a city that has borne the greatest share of destruction and suffering, in both its soul and its stone. It is the city of a good and noble people, upon whom sectarianism has been unjustly and falsely imposed. Its inhabitants are among the most ancient people of Greater Syria in culture, art, craftsmanship, openness, and affection—and we say this from profound and lived knowledge of the city and its people.
Tripoli, and the North in general—long harmed by neglect—deserve every care and affection, for they are people of sincere warmth and deep love.
That there should be a Syriac Christian parish in Tripoli is nothing surprising, for the roots are one, the history is one, and the culture is one.
If we call for unity among Christians, it is all the more fitting to call for love among the people of the country in all their diversity. We know with certainty that the people of Tripoli embody this truth, and we reaffirm this based on lived experience—personally and through the Council—over decades.
Daily life in Tripoli and the North, and the popular culture of this region, if they indicate anything, point to the depth of interconnectedness among people in their everyday lives. They confirm the many shared religious and social spaces among our people, who relate to one another as brothers in homeland and in humanity. If there are exceptions, they only serve to confirm the rule, the rule of human fraternity.
Our society has taken great strides forward in accepting difference and diversity and in respecting them within the framework of the law. The painful past has become memories of grievous events; everyone now knows why they occurred, how they occurred, and who was behind them, with a shared consensus never to return to them.
Today we live in a society of diversity—a society of interaction with partners in homeland and in daily life, a society of cultural richness, where people learn from one another the standards of conduct and ways of life they need to adopt.
In this context, I cannot but pause, without hurting their modesty, before the shepherds of this blessed eparchy, bishops and priests alike, and say to them:
“Blessed are you for the social and cultural work you assume, foremost among it dialogue, because dialogue is rooted in the Word, and ‘in the beginning was the Word.’”