As part of the follow-up to the practical recommendations expressed by the youth during the online meetings held by the Council of Middle East Churches on the 25th & 26th August 2020 and in the belief of their active role in the disaster relief of Beirut, the department of Theological Affairs and Ecumenical Relations, in partnership and cooperation with the Great Youth and the Theological Seminary Department of the Roman Catholic-Rabbwa Patriarchate, organize the program of "healing from psychological trauma and spiritual advice" on the 12th and 19th of September 2020.

Under the framework of the solidarity visit done by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican’s Secretary of State, to Beirut on the 3rd of September, 2020, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), represented by its Secretary General Dr. Souraya Behealany and the Director of the Theological and Ecumenical Department, Fr. Gaby Hachem, participated in the reception ceremony. In addition, they participated in the meeting held by Cardinal Parolin with the spiritual leaders in Lebanon.

Thursday August 31, 2020

A delegation from the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) including Father Gaby Alfred Hachem, Director of the Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED), Sister Emily Tannous, Coordinator of the Department, and Mrs. Seta Hadeshian, representing Dr. Souraya Bechealany, MECC Secretary General, visited the Coptic Orthodox Church in Sin El Fil, to meet with His Eminence Anba Antonius, Coptic Bishop of Jerusalem, Lebanon, Kuwait and the Gulf and to welcome Coptic Monk Timon Al-Suriani, who was appointed as the new Head of the Coptic Church in Lebanon.

Télé Lumière - Noursat dedicated a weekly segment for the Middle East Council of Churches every Thursday in "AL Nour Maana" show, to discuss the latest updates regarding the MECC appeal as well its relief and development projects in Beirut.

On Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 August, the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) held two virtual meetings with around 17 young people from various churches in Lebanon. These two gatherings were a follow-up to the youth consultation seminar held by the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) on the 11th of July 2020, within the “Kairos Middle East: Towards Churches Global Compact” process.

Support to the devastated city of Beirut and to its distressed people

Christ is risen indeed He is risen! For two thousand years, Christians in the Middle East have been continuously proclaiming Christ’s Resurrection to express at the same time their faith and their confrontation with death, the greatest threat to humanity and creation. Due to its religious, cultural and commercial vivacity and its presence in the heart of the ancient world, their region did not really witness true peace except for intermittent periods. In fact, it was in most cases, a crossroad, a meeting place and starting point on the one hand, and an arena for conflicts and confrontations on the other. Due to raging conflicts and wars, for more than half a century, the Middle East has tremendously suffered violence, extremism and killing, uprooting its inhabitants from their lands and displacing them, tampering with their fate, and undermining human dignity.

Youth are a key pillar in shaping the future

As part of the “Kairos Middle East Towards Churches Global Compact” process, the Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) organized the first youth consultation seminar on the 11th of July 2020, at the St Augustine center in Kafra – Ain Saade, Lebanon.

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Youth are a key pillar in shaping the future

As part of the “Kairos Middle East Towards Churches Global Compact” process, the Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) organized the first youth consultation seminar on the 11th of July 2020, at the St Augustine center in Kafra – Ain Saade, Lebanon.

Following the strategic orientation aiming at keeping an ongoing interreligious dialogue about Christian-Muslim relations and relations with other religions such as with Jews, the Theological & Ecumenical Department held the 5th consultation seminar of the process on Tuesday June 2, 2020 in order to continue the preparation of  the “Kairos Middle East: Towards Churches Global Compact” white paper.

Sr. Emilie Tannous, the coordinator of the MECC Thelogical and Ecumenical Department, was the guest of "Kel Yowm bi Ywomu" program on Voice of Van radio station, and the guest of “Alive” program on MTV. The discussions were about the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity’s appeal to observe the 14th of May 2020 as a day of joint prayer, fasting and good deeds.

Interview with Fr. Gabi Hachem, Director of the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department on Voice of All Lebanon radio station, with the journalist Johnny Sadiq. The discussion was about the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity’s appeal to observe the 14th of May 2020 as a day of joint prayer, fasting and good deeds.

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Despite its widespread outbreak around the world, the Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) did not hinder the work of the MECC Theological and Ecumenical department (TED) who was determined to continue the “Kairos Middle East Towards Churches Global Compact” process online. In fact, the fifth consultation seminar was expected to be held between the 12th and 14th of March 2020 in Egypt; therefore, the organizing committee decided to turn the event into an online seminar instead of cancelling it.

This report is the product of a meeting of thirty veteran ecumenists, church leaders who have had long and deep commitment to the ecumenical cause, hosted in Antelias, Lebanon from January 31-February 2, 2020 by His Holiness Aram I.

The Theological and Ecumenical Department of the Middle East Council of Churches has held the second consultation seminar of its process entitled " Kairos Middle East Towards Churches Global Compact ". The seminar is taking place over two days, on 21 and 22 February 2020 in Bethania - Harissa, Lebanon.

A first session between earth and sky in Anaphora – Egypt

“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while…” (Mark 6:31): This was the title of the first session within the Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling program organized by the Middle East Council of Churches’ Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) at the Anaphora Center in Egypt.

The MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) held the first session of its program “Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling”, dedicated for ministers and pastors from different parishes in the village of Al-Mishtaya in Wadi Al-Nasara - Syria from January 27 till February 1, 2020.

Arabic version of THE WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY and throughout the year 2020,
They showed us unusual kindness (cf. Acts 28: 2)

In order to follow up on the Ecumenical Program “Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling”, the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) organized an evaluation meeting which was held in November 2019 at the Chamoun-el-Safa Seminary of the Chaldean Patriarchate in Ankawa - Erbil. 12 participants described how the training impacted them both on the personal and practical levels and how it transformed their performance, their way of working and their interaction with others.

In order to present the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) programs, Father Gaby Hachem, the department's director, and Sister Emilie Tannous, the program coordinator and director of the Ecumenical Program “Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling”, have visited Syria from 21 to 23 November 2019. They met many bishops and church officials appointed to work in the dioceses of Damascus, Houran and As Suwayda.

The Middle East Council of Churches, represented by Ms. Karineh Sahakian, participated in the 39th Annual Meeting of the International Committee for the Fellowship of the Least Coin – ICFLC at the Center for the Evangelical Presbyterian Women Center in Abokopi -Accra, Ghana from 12th to 18th of October, 2019.