With the Blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch John X
On the Occasion of the Feast of Saint Joseph of Damascus
The MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs
Participates in a Seminar Entitled: "The Treasury of Antiochian Heritage"
Balamand, July 7, 2026
With the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) for the Orthodox family, and on the occasion of the Feast of Saint Joseph of Damascus, Patron Saint of the Manuscript Preservation Center at Our Lady of Balamand Patriarchal Monastery in Lebanon, celebrated on the tenth of this month, the Monastery organized a seminar entitled "The Treasury of Antiochian Heritage."
The event was attended by His Eminence Bishop Constantine Kayyal, Abbot of the Greek Orthodox Saint Elie Chouaya Patriarchal Monastery, Archimandrite Yaacoub Khalil, Dean of the Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology at the University of Balamand, Lebanon, and Former President of the Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME), Priests, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, Coordinator of Media and Church Relations at MECC Journalist Lea Adel Maamary; as well as Members of the Parliament and personnalities from the political, judicial, labor, military, security, administrative, academic, educational, media, cultural, artistic, social, municipal, and local leadership sectors, in addition to those interested in Antiochian heritage and friends of the Monastery and the Center.
Following welcoming words by the Monastery’s Abbot Archimandrite George Yaacoub, and the Center’s Director Father Al-Hareth Ibrahim, Dr. Marleine Kanaan delivered a presentation entitled "The Treasury of Heritage in the Manuscripts of the Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand."
The seminar ended with a guided tour at the Manuscript Preservation Center, during which attendees visited its main departments, learned about the manuscript restoration process, and explored the other preservation and conservation work carried out by the center.
Source: Facebook Page of Our Lady of Balamand Patriarchal Monastery.