This week, the Islamic world celebrates Eid al-Fitr, which comes after a thirty-day fast throughout the month of Ramadan according to the Hijri calendar.

Given the phenomenon of multi-religious societies that pervades the whole world today, interaction between members belonging to one religious social entity and members of another religious entity is a common occurrence in human togetherness.

In the field of social relations, interaction is not religious interaction; rather it is socio-cultural interaction whereby all religious groups that live within one socio-political catchment area relate to one another.

Do the Catholic and Orthodox Churches Support Families and How?

International Family Day falls on May 15 of every year and returns this year amid injustice, violence, intimidation and hate speech... but worst of all, a malicious virus from the Corona strain they called Covid-19! A virus that made matters worse, and hit us amid crises and deteriorating living conditions that suffocate families in our Arab world.

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

"... 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.

Report: 1 to 9 May 2021

COVID-19 over the past year or so have widened economic disparity in the region. Countries with the exception of Cyprus and Jordan, have still to launch a meaningful reform program to improve the livelihoods of their citizens. Instead, corruption and sanctions still mess the scene and everyone in it.

According to “The National” news website, a judicial source informed it that fresh charges will be filed over last year’s deadly explosion at Beirut’s port in the coming “weeks”. The source claimed that the investigation will push to the end, despite any redtape or political interference. Many in Lebanon are still aching to know the truth and lament the lack of accountability within the country; Victims have repeatedly told the media over the past nine months that they fear they may never achieve justice.

The Middle East Council of Churches renews its call to lift the occupation of the Palestinian people

With the escalation of confrontations in Jerusalem and the dangerous course that developments in the Holy Land are taking, the Middle East Council of Churches issued a statement in which it considered that the violent events raging in occupied Palestine, which are still increasing in intensity daily, are nothing but an inevitable result of pressure and oppression practiced continuously by the occupying powers of the land of Palestine for more than seven decades.

"I rely on many assistances that allow me to eat and live, then I go back to the stairs on the next street to spend the night." Alas, this is the case of a women affected by the massive crises that hit Lebanon. She lives without a shelter to protect her and the Beirut explosion came to severely deepen her wound. Likewise, many Beirutis are passing through difficult living conditions and are affected by the August 4 disaster and by different crises.

Developing Cooperation and Working Together for the Service of Humanity

On Friday May 7, 2021, a delegation from the international humanitarian organization Tearfund visited the MECC headquarters in Beirut. The delegation included the Regional Director Mrs. Karen Sorensen, new Country Director for Lebanon Mr. Dani Tayyar, new Program Officer for Lebanon and Yemen Mr. Farah Bou Kher and new Person in Charge of supporting the Country Director in peace building initiatives and supporting fragile states Mrs. Manal Tayyar.

Syria and Lebanon

Humanitarian Update

Reporting period: from 3 to 10 May 2021

Ever since the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and its rapid spread in the world, an ongoing process of change of the face of humanity was triggered off.

This microscopic creature turned human existence upside down and imposed new patterns of interaction between people, be it at the level of business or at the level of family and social relations.

In the Rosary Marathon: 3 Shrines from the Middle East

The world prays with one heart during the month of May 2021 in the "Rosary Marathon" launched by His Holiness Pope Francis on behalf of the wounded world. Since the beginning of the month, prayers were risen daily, pleading with Virgin Mary to intercede with us before her son to end the danger of Coronavirus and with it, the biggest wound of the world since generations.

Amid the deteriorating living conditions and outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus in Lebanon, the citizens’ needs are daily increasing. Therefore, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) continues its humanitarian relief role by supporting the most vulnerable and needy groups through distributing a new batch of aid.

In light of the 4th of August incedent last year, the removal of hazardous material from the port of beirut has become one of the top priorities of the teams on the ground. The ongoing work of such teams allowed the removal of forsaken dangerous materials and transporting them elsewhere to be disposed of.

Report: 5 May 2021

Although the various vaccination campaigns are still underway and economies started to untangle, the virus is spreading in neighboring countries at alarming rates as a ‘new deadly strain’ worries scientists.

Syria and Lebanon

Humanitarian Update

Reporting period: from 26 April to 4 May 2021

MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs was the guest of journalist Angelique Mouwanes during a live interview on Radio Liban's program “Aal Hawa Sawa” where he shed the light on the Council’s identity, mission, goals and future projects.

Holy Week, the week of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, is a unique event and a distinguished time of unparalleled significance in the history of humanity.

Holy Week summarizes human suffering with betrayal, tyranny, persecution, injustice and hatred.

During the current present week, full of events and teachings, the Lord summarizes for us the history of humankind soaked with hypocrisy, rooted in hatred and stained with blood, the blood of the innocent who are used as fuel in a hell made by tyrants they legitimize in order to heal their thirst for hatred.

On the occasion of the April 24, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, the Biden administration officially recognized the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as a genocide. Prompting the anger of Turkey, President Biden is the first US president to declare so. During the early part of the 20th century, one and the half million people were murdered as part of an ethnic cleansing scheme orchestrated by top Turkish decision makers.

The Light of Christ Overflows on this Divine and Historical Date

What Happens in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre?

“Light up, O New Jerusalem! the glory of the Lord has shone upon you...” are phrases believers recite and sing with great joy on Holy Saturday, an annual date for a divine phenomenon. A miracle that consolidates and revives Christian faith, glorious light shines from the cradle of Christianity, Jerusalem, specifically from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Report: 28 April 2021

As ME citizens celebrate Ramadan, word of a new ‘highly transmissible virus strain, has reached the area.

With the various health sectors already under pressure, the spread of such a virus, which had been deemed by scientists as more dangerous, can spell a more difficult year for the world.