7 months after of the Beirut explosion, another person falls victim to the after effects of the event. 57-year-old Ardem, as told by his cousin Sanahine Kassabian, had his house devastated. He lost the pet shop he owned in Gemmayzé located just meters away from the port. This left him “mentally and emotionally broken. He couldn’t eat, sleep nor talk,” explained Kassabian.

MECC Secretary General, Dr. Michel Abs was the guest of a special episode about HH Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq, broadcasted on SAT7 channel. During his online intervention, he described the visit and underlined its symbolism. As well as, he said that it has many positive meanings, symbols, messages and lessons, especially that HH. Pope Francis, suffering from pain, came to Iraq knowing the danger that the Iraqis are facing, and brought a spirit of unity to a divided population.

Syria and Lebanon

Humanitarian Update

Reporting period: from 2 to 8 March 2021

During his intervention on the 7 PM News of “Sawt Beirut International” SBI Channel on Sunday February 7, MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs shed the light on HH Pope Francis’ historic visit to Iraq.

In keeping with the historic visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Iraq today, the Middle East Council of Churches appraised His Holiness’s initiative seeking to heal the wounds of the people of the suffering East, especially the people of Iraq. On this occasion, the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs said that the visit of Pope Francis, the Pontiff of human brotherhood, comes at the most critical times in its modern history. This visit is a token of love and healing. It is a call to steadfastness in the face of obscurantism, violence and annihilation.

Beth Nahrein, or Mesopotamia, or Iraq, the Arabic name for Uruk, where the vibrant history of humankind began, as the rest of the Levant, has been drained of blood and people for more than two decades.

This country was Evangelized by Saint Adi, one of the seventy-two apostles, and his disciple Mâry, and the Christian faith that grew up there spread throughout the whole world.

During the last Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches held on Friday 25 February, 2021, President of the Saint Paul Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Harissa - Lebanon Fr. Nicolas Bustros was appointed as Associate General Secretary for the Catholic Family. The Communication and Public Relations Department interviewed him as new member of the General Secretariat’s family in order to get to know him well and to highlight his role and his future expectations in the ecumenical movement.

7 months following the Beirut Port Blast and the Middle East Council of Churches is keen to continue its mission in serving the human dignity by supporting the affected and needy people who are still facing the enormous repercussions of the explosion.

Report: 16 to 28 February 2021

With the arrival of the vaccine to the region, many wonder whether national vaccination plans will succeed. This is specially the case for countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine, where each face a different set of hurdles, related to either financial instability, rampant corruption, or besieging state.

In a main news item presented by a Tunisian media agency, it suggested that the materials that caused the explosion at the Beirut port on the fourth of last August came from Tunisia. Due to the disappearance of a very significant amount of "ammonium" from the chemical complex in the Governorate of Gabes (southern Tunisia) between 2013 and 2019, such a correlation can be built.

Syria and Lebanon

Humanitarian Update

Reporting period: from February 22 to March 1, 2021

New Associate Secretary General for the Catholic family appointed

The Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches held an online meeting on Thursday 25 February, 2021 instead of attending in person, respecting the preventive measures to stop the spread of the Coronavirus. All the committee members from Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Cyprus and Lebanon participated.

Fundamentalism is an ideology that submits individuals and groups to the whole system of belief and rituals of a thought without any flexibility or any acceptance of difference with the other.

The fundamentalists deal with their beliefs with a rigid logic that does not accept dialogue. It is the hardening of the letter against the soul and the mind. The fundamentalists consider their cause as a universal and eternal dimension, as they consider themselves responsible for the fate of humanity through their faith.

I, as an Iraqi citizen, should feel at home in Iraq

His Holiness Pope Francis the Prophetic voice in the world; “Prepare the way for the Lord…” (Isaiah 40:3) and be brothers in humanity… - carries projects of love, forgiveness and dialogue in his suitcase once again as he makes his way to Iraq with the certainty of a good shepherd telling the doubtful: “I want to be near the tormented…”

The Pope’s visit to Mesopotamia and the land of Abraham from March 5 to 8 bears great hope for an East burdened with grief, filled with conflicts and wars, and promises that the visit will make a change in Iraq.

The Middle East can rejoice with news of the arrival of the vaccine to Palestine.

“Today you have killed us all over again!...”

In a recent turn of events, Judge Fadi Sawan was removed from the investigation of Beirut Blast due to absurd reasons. Someone or some entity wanted him off the investigation and as a result, he was replaced by Judge Tarek El Bitar. Families of the victims were devastated by this news as this showed that the state would never hold the powerful to account.

Syria and Lebanon

Humanitarian Update

Reporting period: from 15 to 22 February 2021

Pope Francis will make the first papal visit ever to Iraq in March to encourage the dwindling faithful. War and terrorism have hemorrhaged the nation’s Christians, but he hopes they might return.

Meanwhile in Lebanon, Michel Abs, recently selected as the new leader of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), agrees with the pontiff.

Online Meeting and Evaluation of the Implementation Phase

Following up on the work of the “The Restoration Fund for rehabilitation of faith-based social services & religious infrastructure damaged during the crisis in Syria” program, members of the Committee in charge of following up on the program held an electronic meeting which the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs attended for the first time after his election.