Produced By MECC

“Momentum”

15-5-2026

This issue includes reports, videos, news, articles, and a full coverage of the latest developments of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), as well as the Church, Ecumenical, and social events…

This is in addition to the weekly word of the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs which is entitled in this issue “The Church Washes the Feet of the Barefoot, Inspired by daily life in the Antiochian Levant and the Nile Valley”.

You can check the issue via the following link: https://mailchi.mp/11cefb6e6669/momentum-mecc-weekly-newsletter.

You can also subscribe to the Momentum Newsletter via the following link:
https://mecc.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?id=fd3381352a&u=1db32cafe9ea32b38eb90480a.

Inspired by daily life in the Antiochian Levant and the Nile Valley

Professor Michel Abs

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

It is Holy Thursday — the Thursday of the Mysteries.
The Upper Room.

Christ removes His garment, ties the towel around His waist, and bends down to wash the feet of His disciples. Peter refuses, and he hears the severe answer: “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me” (John 13:8).

This is not only a historical event. It is divine guidance and a program of action.

When we say that “the Church washes the feet of the barefoot,” we mean that the essence of the Church’s social service is this deliberate bending down toward those whom the road has exhausted.

It is a reversal of the logic of power: “Whoever wants to be first must be servant of all” (Mark 10:44). The Church is measured by the extent to which her clergy bend down.

The core idea is that authority in the Church is not domination. It is diakonia — service.

“Washing the feet of the barefoot” means touching directly the wounds of the weary and heavy-burdened, without mediation and without humiliation.

Washing feet means that I bend down until I become level with you, and I touch your pain with my own hands.

His Holiness Pope Francis called it a “field domain Church.” It leaves the sanctuary, becomes soiled with the dust of the road, and touches the wound.

The theological meaning of this is clear and unmistakable: whoever rejects the Church’s service, or refuses to serve, has not understood the mystery of the Eucharist.

The liturgy that is not completed by service to the barefoot becomes an empty ritual…

Highlighting the Latest Updates Related to the Reception of His Beatitude Patriarch Mar Paul III Nona in Baghdad, In Addition the Preparations for His Enthronement Ceremony as Patriarch at the Head of the Chaldean Church in Iraq and the World

Where His Beatitude Patriarch Mar Paul III Nona Will Be Enthroned as Patriarch of the Chaldean Church in Iraq and the world

مرصد فلسطين – تقرير الجمعة 15 أيّار/ مايو 2026

In light of the worsening humanitarian and social conditions in the region due to the escalation of security operations, the Middle East Council of Churches presents a weekly report entitled "Palestine Monitor," which includes the latest developments in Palestine, especially amid the deteriorating living, social, and security conditions in the country. Some texts will be in Arabic, and some others in English, depending on the source.

في ظلّ تفاقم الظروف الإنسانيّة والاجتماعيّة في المنطقة جرّاء تصاعد العمليّات الأمنيّة فيها، يقدّم مجلس كنائس الشرق الأوسط تقريرًا أسبوعيًّا بعنوان "مرصد فلسطين" حيث يتضمّن آخر المستجدّات الّتي تشهدها فلسطين خصوصًا وسط تدهور الظروف المعيشيّة والاجتماعيّة والأمنيّة في البلاد. ستكون بعض النصوص باللغة العربية، وبعضها الآخر باللّغة الإنكليزيّة، وذلك حسب المصدر.

On Its World Day, Major Challenges Burden the Family

The Church Accompanies It

Exclusive: Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

Amidst international developments, the Middle East is experiencing crises, divisions, and conflicts that have imposed many social changes, negatively impacting family life and its growth its societies. In fact, this year's International Day of Families, which falls on May 15th of each year, bears a high level of injustice, violence, and hate speech...

Today, families face many challenges that impose repercussions on home education and the preservation of human values, which places them facing an uncertain future. Consequently, families are facing a wave of complexities that cast a shadow over their lifestyles and the interactions of their members.

A dangerous reality that families are facing today... a bitter truth we cannot ignore! The solution? Stand still.

We are still living the joy of the visit of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to the Hospital of the Cross, and we faithfully continue to follow what he told us

We pray for the canonization of the Blessed Father Yaacoub

At the beginning of last December, wounded Lebanon witnessed a period of hope, joy, and peace embodied in the visit of the Pope of Peace, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, to the Land of the Cedars. During his tour in the country, the Supreme Pontiff paid a special visit to the Monastery and Psychiatric and Mental Illnesses Hospital of the Cross in Jal El Dib, founded by the Blessed Father Yaacoub, where he met with patients, the Sisters of the Cross, and the hospital staff.

The Pope’s words remain engraved in the hearts of everyone who prays and works in this hospital. He encouraged them, noting that their competence, compassionate presence, and care for patients are a tangible testimony to Christ’s merciful love. He said they are like the Good Samaritan who stopped for the injured man, cared for him, lifted him up, and healed his wounds.

The impacts of His Holiness’s visit to the Hospital of the Cross continue to this day. In a special interview with the Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), Sister Micheline Njeim, who is the Servant of the Shrine of Blessed Father Yaacoub, said that they are still living the joy of this visit “because when His Holiness Pope Leo XIV visited us, he left behind joy and peace. He came to proclaim peace, and he left us with great peace.”

On the Ascension Day, Earth connects with the Glory of Heavens

Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

"... You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8), this is what Jesus Christ said to his disciples in the olive mountain - Jerusalem, promising them that they will receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit that brings them closer to the kingdom of God.

Jesus blessed his disciples and began to rise to heaven, “When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.” To be followed with two angels promising the return of Jesus in the same way he had ascended to heaven, "They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going to heaven.” (Acts 1:11).

This Divine Ascension took place 40 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, “he presented himself alive to them” (Acts 1:3), after the completion of the work of redemption and salvation of mankind, as he ascended to heaven and returned to his Father to elevate humanity into the heart of the Heavenly Father. This event was mentioned in the Gospel of Luke chapter 24 and Acts 1 and has several meanings.

Produced by MECC

“Ecumenical Horizons” is a weekly program that features spiritual, cultural, intellectual, educational, youth and environmental topics.

“Easter Is a Season of Hope”

As part of a workshop within the Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling Program (THSC) organized by the Theological and Ecumenical Department at the Middle East Council of Churches(MECC), in Egypt, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, received the delegation participating in the program at the Papal Headquarters in Cairo.

During the meeting, His Holiness welcomed the delegation, especially during the Easter Season, noting that this is a time of hope. He also emphasized the importance of preserving hope in people’s hearts and spreading it among others.

From her side, the Program Coordinator Sister Emilie Tannous, gave a brief presentation on the goals and beginnings of the program, thanking His Holiness for his time and for receiving the delegation.

At the end of the visit, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II offered each visitor a Cross of the Coptic Orthodox Church as a souvenir of love from the meeting.