“The Church and Society: Institution and Leadership”

Under the patronage of His Beatitude John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and at the invitation of the Dean of St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology Fr. Yacoub Khalil, the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs presented a lecture entitled “The Church and Society: The Institution and the Leadership”. It was held on the evening of Friday 2 December 2022 at the Institute’s campus in Balamand, Lebanon.

The lecture was part of the graduation ceremony of a new group of graduates from “Kalima” program for Theological education and the CBB for Biblical Studies in Spanish program.

28 and 29 November 2022 - Monastery of Notre-Dame du Puits in Bkennaya, Lebanon

The Middle East Council of Churches held its Executive Committee meeting on Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 November 2022, at the Monastery of Notre-Dame du Puits in Bkennaya, Lebanon, to discuss the MECC Ecumenical and Humanitarian issues, as well as other issues related to the people and Christians of the Middle East. Attendees were the MECC Presidents, members of the Executive Committee from various countries of the region, and the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs heading the Council's General Secretariat team.

The video presents a report about the meeting’s activities and some interviews with participants. It was prepared by the MECC Communication and Public Relations Department.

During a time when Lebanon is suffering from economic hardship and the collapse of the health sector, ordinary citizens are unable to afford basic health coverage and medication. To make matters worse, organizations that used to provide medical assistance to those in need are unable to tend to the growing needs in Lebanon.

Luckily, the Middle East Council of Churches is still capable of being at the forefront of such a struggle. The MECC Service and Relief – Diakonia Department, Beirut’s Office, was able, during the month of November 2022, to carry out medicine distribution to people from different walks of life.

“UNITE to End Violence Against Women” is the campaign leaded annually by the United Nations aiming at protecting women and reducing the risks which they may face.

Hence, the Middle East Council of Churches continues, this year, its participation with ACT Alliance in the campaign, stressing the need to preserve women’s dignity, especially since they have an essential role in building societies.

The Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches elected Mrs. Seta Hadeshian as Associate Secretary General for the Eastern Orthodox Family and re-elected the two former Associate Secretaries General, Reverend Refaat Fikri for the Evangelical Family and Father Nicolas Bustros for the Catholic Family. The election was made during the Executive Committee meeting which was held on Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 November 2022, at Notre-Dame du Puits Monastery in Bkennaya, Lebanon.

As part of his program "Kadaya Sakhina" on El Keraza TV in Egypt, Rev. Rifaat Fikry, the MECC Associate Secretary General, highlighted on Monday 5 December 2022, the activities of the MECC Executive Committee meeting which was held on Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 November 2022, at the Monastery of Notre-Dame du Puits in Bkennaya, Lebanon. He also shed light on the recommendations and decisions of the final statement issued by the meeting. In addition to the point of views and aspirations of the youth who also participated in the meeting as representatives of various Churches and youth movements in the Middle East.

In the video, you can find the segment dedicated to the Executive Committee meeting.

“The Question of Disability in the Arab World, A Roadmap for the Future”

Friday 16 December 2022 - 6:30 p.m., at the Antonine University, Lebanon

In partnership with the Middle East Council of Churches, the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (EDAN) has the honor to invite you to a seminar about the book “The Question of Disability in the Arab World, A Roadmap for the Future”, prepared and supervised by Mr. Fadi El Halabi, and reviewed by Professor Antoine Romanos. It will be held on Friday 16 December 2022, at 6:30 p.m., at the Antonine University in Hadat – Baabda, Lebanon, Fr. Abbot Antoine Rajeh Hall.

Academics and specialists in the field of disability from important universities in Lebanon and abroad contributed to this book, and it is published by Dar Saer Al Mashrek. The book will be available at a special price during the seminar for who would like to buy it.

The seminar will begin with a speech by the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs.

Amidst a rise in violence against woman which put her at risk at various levels, the world participates annually in the United Nations campaign “UNITE to End Violence Against Women”.

Through its participation with ACT Alliance in this international campaign, the Middle East Council of Churches calls for serious and quick action to end violence against women in all its forms and to help them face and overcome it.

«Vivir con dignidad para las personas con discapacidad» El jueves 8 de diciembre de 2022 de las 19:00 a las 20:30 horas

El Consejo de Iglesias del Oriente Medio le invita a participar en su nuevo seminario web mensual titulado «Vivir con dignidad para las personas con discapacidad», el jueves 8 de diciembre de 2022 de las 19:00 a las 20:30 horas.

Puedes participar en el webinar a través del siguiente enlace de Zoom: shorturl.at/bde19, y en directo en la página de Facebook del MECC.

El seminario web comenzará con una nota de apertura del Secretario General del MECC, el Dr. Michel Abs, e incluye 2 sesiones sobre el tema en cuestión. Será moderado por la Dra. Laure Abi Khalil, además de un resumen en inglés a cargo del Dr. Chawki Attieh.

“Living In Dignity For Persons With Disability”

Thursday 8 December 2022, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

The Middle East Council of Churches invites you to participate in its new monthly webinar entitled “Living In Dignity For Persons With Disability”, on Thursday 8 December 2022, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

You can participate in the webinar via the following Zoom link: shorturl.at/bde19, and live on the MECC Facebook page.

A Lecture by the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs at the Invitation of St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology

Friday 2 December 2022 - 7:00 pm, at Balamand and live on Facebook

Under the patronage of His Beatitude John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology invites you to participate in a lecture delivered by the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Professor Michel Abs, entitled "The Church and Society: Institution and Leadership". It will be held on Friday 2 December 2022, at 7:00 p.m. You can watch it live on the Facebook pages of St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology and the Middle East Council of Churches.

In the new issue of the weekly newsletter Momentum issued by the Communication and Public Relations Department of the Middle East Council of Churches, you can find the final statement issued by the MECC Executive Committee meeting held on Monday 28 and Thursday 29 November 2022 at Saydet El Bir Monastery in Bkennaya, Lebanon. As for the weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, it is entitled “Executive Committee and the concerns of an era”, in which he talked about the importance of the in person meetings, and highlighted the most important decisions taken by the Executive Committee regarding the MECC work and its development.

The issue also includes 2 videos about the first day’s activities of the MECC Executive Committee Meeting, and the sessions organized for youth who were part of the meeting.

Beyond the closing statement and the minutes of the meeting, we need to stop at the "experience" of the Executive Committee meeting that was held during the last two days in a calm monastery in Mount Lebanon.

There is no doubt that nothing is more lovable than meetings between brothers after a long separation, especially when it is in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and on common issues and concerns related to the Middle East region with all its components and their various affiliations.

We have been holding meetings remotely, online, as the name used to be, even in Arabic, during the hard years of the pandemic that struck humanity at its core, and we found, at that time that these remote meetings were the effective solution when the pandemic threatened every human life on earth. We have adopted this online solution, trained ourselves on its uses and adapted it to our needs. It was the perfect expression of the logic which says that “technology that may harm humanity in some of its manifestations is what provides humanity with the means that help it save itself”. However, with the return of life to normal, people came back to taste and realize the importance of face-to-face meetings with this interaction that takes place between two people in direct encounter versus the encounter between two computer screens or cell phones.

At the end of 2022, the Communication and Public Relations Department at the Middle East Council of Churches have now issued its online Ecumenical calendar for the month of December 2022. It includes the Ecclesiastical and Liturgical feasts of the various families of Churches in the Middle East. In addition to international days identified by the United Nations, and which are related to the MECC identity and its spiritual and human mission.

As part of building Ecumenical bridges between Theology students from various Church families, the Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME) organized an entertaining sports gathering with the participation of more than 200 students studying in Theological Institutes in Egypt. It was held on Saturday 26 November 2022 at the Coptic Catholic Seminary in Maadi, Egypt.

The gathering was characterized by an atmosphere of joy, friendship and love. It aimed to bridge distances between the participants who got to know each other, exchange experiences and opinions about various topics of their interest.

Beirut, November 29, 2022

The Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches held a face-to-face meeting, for the first time after the end of the Corona pandemic, on Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 November 2022 at the Monastery of Notre-Dame du Puits in Bkennaya, Lebanon. The meeting was chaired by His Eminence Anba Anthonios, Metropolitan of Jerusalem and the Near East for the Coptic Orthodox and the President of the MECC for the Eastern Orthodox Family, His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and the President of the MECC for the Orthodox Family, represented by His Eminence Metropolitan Saba Esber, Metropolitan of Busra Houran and Jabal Al-Arab, His Eminence Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian, President of the Federation of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East and President of the MECC for the Evangelical Family, His Beatitude Patriarch Raphael Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos of the House of Cilicia for the Armenian Catholics and President of the MECC for the Catholic Family, with the participation of members of the Executive Committee from Lebanon Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and Cyprus, representing 21 churches of the Middle East, the Secretary-General of the MECC Dr. Michel Abs, the two Associate General Secretaries Reverend Refaat Fikry and Father Nicolas Bustros, the Executive Secretary of the Association of Theology Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME), Reverend Michael Kanbar, in addition to the General Secretariat team of department directors and administrators.

The Middle East Council of Churches continues its participation with ACT Alliance in the UN international campaign “UNITE to End Violence Against Women Campaign” during 16 days of activism, though pictures that aims to raise awareness about the negative impacts of violence and call for serious action to face it.

Their challenges are many today in the Middle East... Christian youth are the present and future of the Church!

Youth representing Churches and youth movements from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt and Iraq, expressed their opinions and concerns to convey it to the Heads of Churches during the Executive Committee meeting of the Middle East Council of Churches, which is being held on Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 November 2022, at Saydet El Bir Monastery in Bkennaya, Lebanon.