As part of the "Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling for Church Leaders" program, the Theological and Ecumenical Department at the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) is conducting a training course for sisters and brothers in Iraq at the Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Mosul in Baghdeda (Qaraqosh), from November 23 to 28, 2025.

Within this training, a spiritual meeting was organized for the Syriac Women's Forum – the Sisters of the Virgin Mary Forum for Syriac Catholics in Baghdeda – Qaraqosh – Hamdaniya, Nineveh Governorate, at the initiative of the Forum's Spiritual Guide Father Roni Momika. Father Anthony Kazzi, a Member of the program's team of specialists, delivered a spiritual talk about the Virgin Mary, who accepted the Annunciation with faith and obedience, reflecting on her role in the journey of Salvation and her profound connection to every believer.

Under the Title "Peace with Creation, Spiritual and Practical Perspectives from the East"

10-11 October 2025 - At the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, Abbassia - Cairo

On the occasion of World Mental Health Day and the beginning of the week of global celebrations of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in Egypt, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) organized an environmental science day with members of the Coptic Evangelical Organization and the Bishopric of Public, Ecumenical and Social Services (BLESS) in the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, at the Anaphora Oasis in Egypt. The event took place on Friday, October 10, 2025.

The environmental day began with a gathering of experts from Egyptian universities and the Ministry of Environment at St. Mark's Cathedral in Abbassia. Father Movses (Garen) Yosolkanian welcomed the attendees in the Anaphora Oasis. His Eminence Metropolitan Thomas, Director of the Oasis and Metropolitan of El-Qusiya and Mir, in Assiut Governorate, joined the meeting.

In the garden and forest of the Nazareth Monastery in Ain Alak, Lebanon, members of the Scouts of Lebanon (Les Scouts du Liban) gathered to pray for the Season of Creation 2025, on Sunday, September 28, 2025.

The Prayer was attended by Father Father Movses, an Armenian Cilician Monk, from the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), who gave an introduction about the Season of Creation and the care of creation, highlighting the importance of scouting activities and their role in preserving the garden of social peace.

The Middle East Council of Churches Participating

With a lot of joy and hope, the Ecumenical family around the world concluded the “Season of Creation” 2025 with an online Prayer celebration under the theme of the year "Peace with Creation." The celebration was organized by the Ecumenical Youth Committee in the “Season of Creation”, on Saturday, October 4, 2025, coinciding with the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Ecology. Noting that the Season began on September 1, with the Feast of Creation.

The Prayer was led by the Coordinator of the Eco Justice Unit at the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Father Movses Yosolkanian, and Daisy Yator representing the youth of ACT Alliance international organization. They emphasized the importance of amplifying youth voices and strengthening the role of youth in working to protect God's creation.

Saturday, October 4, 2025 – 4 pm Beirut Time

In a world immersed in wars and conflicts, the “Season of Creation” 2025 ends on October 4, with the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of ecology, as is customary annually, after it had started on 1 September, with the Feast of Creation.

On this occasion, the Ecumenical Youth Committee in the “Season of Creation” is organizing an international online celebration, with to Pray and praise God the Creator, with the participation of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) represented by the Coordinator of the Eco Justice Unit Father Movses Yosolkanian. It will be held on Saturday, October 4, 2025, at 4 pm Beirut time, and you may join it by clicking here.

Let us participate together in this celebration and unite in Prayer on the intention of creation and our common home, hoping to achieve peace in the Middle East and the world. Noting that this year's "Season of Creation" carries the theme “Peace with Creation” and the symbol of “Garden of Peace”, inspired by Isaiah 32: 14-18.

at the MECC Partners Meeting - September 2025

By the Director of the Theological and Ecumenical Department at the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar

“The fortress will be abandoned… until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field… My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.”

— Isaiah 32:14-18

The Season of Creation invites us to rediscover our calling as caretakers of God’s creation, and Isaiah’s prophetic vision speaks powerfully to our reality today. He imagines a world transformed: once desolate lands renewed, abandoned cities restored, and God’s Spirit poured out to bring justice, peace, and harmony.

This vision feels particularly urgent in the Middle East, where conflicts and wars have deeply scarred both people and the environment. Forests have been burned, fertile lands abandoned, rivers polluted, and biodiversity threatened. With water scarcity rising, climate change worsening, and displacement increasing, nature has become an unspoken victim of human violence.

Ecumenical Leaders: Serious Work to Protect the Environment!

Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

For "Peace with Creation," believers around the world are praying during this year' “Season of Creation”, united in celebration and working together as one Ecumenical family, striving with hearts filled with hope to preserve creation and thus contribute to the path of peace.

This peace has been longed for since decades, as countries around the world work to achieve it through various means and methods. Ecumenical activists in the Middle East and around the world are also making efforts to achieve this desired goal via studying and environmental action. This is achieved through studying the Bible and delving into the Teachings of Jesus Christ, as well as implementing environmental activities aimed at protecting our common home.

The “Season of Creation” best expresses these environmental initiatives called for by Church and Ecumenical Leaders around the world, so that we may assume an effective responsibility towards God's creation.

Environmental Justice is an Urgent Issue in Light of All the Dangers Threatening the Creation!

Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

With hope mixed with the joy of Prayer and working together, and with a firm belief in love and solidarity, the Ecumenical family in the Middle East and the world celebrates on of the most glorious annual Ecumenical seasons. It is the "Season of Creation," which calls on every person on this earth to renew their relationship with God and all His creatures.

This year's "Season of Creation" coincides with two important occasions: the 1700th Commemoration of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea and the tenth anniversary of the Encyclical "Laudato Si'," issued by His Holiness the late Pope Francis on the protection of our common home.

The Environment Cries Out in Pain, and the Season of Creation Rings the Alarm Bell!

Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

"O Most High, all-powerful, good Lord God, to you belong praise, glory, honor and all blessing. Be praised, my Lord, for all your creation…" How great is the beauty of your home, O God, and how great is the work of your hands!

With Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Ecology and the Canticle of the Creatures, we praise and glorify the Lord, thanking Him for His gifts, and rejoicing in His creatures. But wait! Do we truly rejoice in God's creatures while His creation groans in pain? Do we truly hear the cry of the earth and all that is in it?

Indeed, our common home is under threat! This is a bitter truth that we cannot ignore, especially as God's creation today faces enormous environmental challenges due to many climate, social, humanitarian, and economic crises casting their shadows over the planet Earth.

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Invites You to the Second Symposium on Eco-Theology It Organizes Under the Title "Peace with Creation, Spiritual and Practical Perspectives from the East"

10-11 October 2025 - At the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, Abbassia - Cairo

In the "Season of Creation":

"Peace begins with humanity and ends with all of creation"

Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

On the occasion of the opening of the "Season of Creation" 2025, His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, raised his Prayers on the intention of peace, truth and justice in the world, supplicating to the Lord Jesus to grant believers the wisdom and strength to continue their efforts in order to protect God's creation.

His Beatitude Patriarch Al-Rai delivered his blessing, via video, at the end of the international Ecumenical Prayer Service, held online, on Monday, September 1, 2025.

Addressing the world from the Middle East, His Beatitude said:

"Peace begins with the human being and extends to all of creation. Today, the world is in desperate need of peace among people. Wars, conflicts, displacement, and all forms of injustice must come to an end. Let us strive to live in peace with every person, for glorification of the Creator passes through the peace we build with those created in His image and likeness."

His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai Delivers the Closing Blessing from the Middle East to the Entire World

Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

The 2025 “Season of Creation” is launched in the Middle East and around the world under the theme "Peace with Creation" and the symbol "Garden of Peace." For the occasion, an international Ecumenical celebration was held online on Monday, September 1, 2025, at the invitation of many Church and Ecumenical Leaders from around the world, as well as the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), and concerned organizations and institutions.

The celebration, which you can watch on the official “Season of Creation” channel on YouTube, by clicking here, included an Ecumenical Prayer Service and various reflections about the “Season of Creation,” the theme of this year and the meanings it carries.

The Middle East was present and participating in the celebration, where His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, delivered a concluding blessing, praying to God, the God of justice and peace, and calling on the faithful to work to protect God's creation and all that is in it.

The Middle East Council of Churches, Rooted in Its Theological Faith, Carries the Environmental Issue Through a Series of Environmental Activities

While our world is immersed in security, social, environmental, and health crises that cast their shadows across the globe, clinging to hope remains a source of strength and determination to work together for peace and justice for all of God's creation, despite all the challenges surrounding it.

Amidst the conflicts and wars that burden the people of the Middle East and the world, many initiatives have emerged and seek to highlight the importance of the environmental issue, raising their voices loudly to instill an ecological culture in order to preserve the environment, which is being threatened.

Hence, the "Season of Creation" rings the alarm bell, alerting us to the need to pay attention to God's creation, listen to its cry and groan, and make efforts to protect it. Working together to promote environmental awareness contributes to the path towards peace, truth and justice.

United in Prayer and Supplication to God the Creator 

The Ecumenical family in the Middle East and the world gathers during an awaited annual Ecumenical and environmental season, which is the “Season of Creation.” It extends between September 1, the Feast of Creation, and October 4, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Ecology. 

In celebration of this season, you can find the text of the 2025 “Season of Creation” Prayer.

We Pray and Work Together for "Peace with Creation"

As September approaches, the Ecumenical family around the world prepares to celebrate the “Season of Creation” with hearts filled with hope, faith, and determination to work together to protect God's creation. This year's season bears the theme “Peace with Creation” and the symbol of “Garden of Peace”, inspired by Isaiah 32: 14-18

It is worth noting that the Season represents an Ecumenical, Christian, and environmental station that begins each year on September 1, with the Feast of Creation, and ends on October 4, with the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron saint of ecology.

On this occasion, the Season of Creation Committee is organizing an international online Prayer Service, coinciding with Creation Day, to Pray, praise, and thank the Lord, the Creator, for all His abundant gifts and blessings. This service will be held on Monday, September 1, 2025, at 3:00 pm CEST, with the participation of Church Leaders from around the world.

Let us participate together in this celebration, through clicking here, and unite in Prayer on the intention of creation and our common home, hoping to achieve peace, truth and justice in the Middle East and the world.

“Peace with Creation”

With great joy, the Season of Creation 2025 begins internationally under the theme "Peace with Creation." During this season, the Ecumenical family in the Middle East and the world gathers to Pray and work together for the preservation of creation. This season represents an Ecumenical environmental station that extends annually from September 1, the Feast of Creation, to October 4, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Ecology.

The Season of Creation invites us to renew our relationship with the Creator and creation through celebration, repentance, and commitment, through deepening our understanding of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ, and via strengthening the environmental cause and continuing our efforts to protect our common home, the Oikos of God.