“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its value, with what will it be salted? (Matthew 5:13).

The Incarnate Master said this to his disciples while he was preaching to the multitudes that came to the mountain.

It is important for us to halt today in front of this saying and extract meaning from the timeless sermon through which the Master summarized the ethical, behavioral and social lifestyle that the human race should adopt.

You are the salt of the earth!

The Communication and Public Relations Department at the Middle East Council of Churches have now issued its digital Ecumenical calendar for the month of November 2021. 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. Noting that the remaining months of the year will be published consecutively.

Report: 27 October 2021

Within the reporting period Jordan and Syria reported an increase in the rate of new COVID cases. They are mimicking a general trend observed in Europe and East Asia as Corona is making a comeback.

The Service and Relief Department - Diakonia, Beirut office, at the Middle East Council of Churches, implemented psychosocial support sessions for a group of women, aiming at helping them overcome daily stress and restore their activity.

The "Restoration Fund for Rehabilitation of Faith-based Social Services & Religious Infrastructure Damaged During the Crisis in Syria" Program

Reaps the Fruits of its First Phase

A Field Tour in the Restored Projects

A year has passed since the Middle East Council of Churches launched the "Restoration Fund for Rehabilitation of Faith-based Social Services & Religious Infrastructure Damaged During the Crisis in Syria" with the support of the international organization Kerk in Actie. The first phase of the program ended and the Churches and their affiliated institutions got back to life after the restoration and rehabilitation works have been finished.

The Armenian Catholic Church celebrated the ceremony of appointment of His Beatitude Catholicos Patriarch of Cilicia for the Armenian Catholics Raphael Bedros XXI (Peter) on the morning of Sunday October 24, 2021 at St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral - St. Elias for the Armenian Catholics, Dabbas square, Beirut, Lebanon.

Archbishop Abdel Sater:

“The primary goal of a Christian missionary is to introduce everyone to the love of God for them”

On World Mission Sunday, Maronite Archbishop of Beirut HE Mrg. Boulos Abdel Sater called for a Mass on Sunday October 24, 2021 at St. George’s Maronite Cathedral in Beirut. Officials from different professional sectors participated in carrying the message to the world, especially journalists, media professionals, judges, lawyers, doctors, and engineers... The Communication and Public Relations Department of the Middle East Council of Churches participated in the Mass alongside the Head of Department Mrs. Huguette Salameh.

Survived Destruction and Got Back to Life

The restoration activities have been completed in Lady of Annunciation Church affiliated to the Latin Church in Aleppo Governorate. The activities included the basement of the Church, which will be used to implement programs and projects aiming at serving and developing the local community in Aleppo.

Believing that education and knowledge are the optimal solution for rebuilding society, MECC rehabilitated classrooms for students in addition to vocational training halls to train and enable youth to enter the labor market.

The final video of the “Season of Creation” 2021 video series stresses on the need to keep the flame of hope alive in our hearts in order to defy all life difficulties, as well as on the importance of restoring our true identity, which is created in the image and likeness of God.

Entre la conspiración y la firmeza

Vivimos en una zona geográfica culturalmente civilizada que ha sufrido tantas crisis y ha sido designada con una plétora de nombres tan grande que ha perdido su identidad.

Algunos lo llaman «Levante», otros «Levante árabe», otros «Creciente fértil» y otros «Souristán». Todos estos apelativos se refieren a una región de diversas etnias, profundamente dividida, abundante en conflictos, que en su historia ha estado expuesta a lo que ninguna otra región del mundo ha estado expuesta en términos de invasiones y calamidades. La geografía ha jugado en contra de la historia de esta región y de la estabilidad de sus pueblos y civilizaciones.

La Fundación One Voice organizó una mesa redonda titulada «One Voice Lebanon, the Homeland of Man» (One Voice Líbano, la patria del hombre) el sábado 16 de octubre de 2021 en el Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de El-Bir – Bqenaya, Líbano. El Secretario General del Consejo de Iglesias del Oriente Medio, el Dr. Michel Abs, participó como ponente junto con el Padre Prof. Georges Hobeika y el Dr. Paul Jalwan.

The new issue of the weekly newsletter Momentum issued by the Communication and Public Relations Department of the Middle East Council of Churches, presents the news of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs’ participation as a speaker in a seminar organized by the One Voice Foundation, entitled “One Voice Lebanon, the Homeland of Man”. As for the weekly message of Dr. Abs, it was the lecture he delivered during the seminar entitled “The Antiochian Levant: People, Identity and Society Between conspiracy and steadfastness”.

Between conspiracy and steadfastness

We live in a culturally civilized geographic catchment area that has undergone so many crises and has been designated with such a great plethora of names so that it has lost its identity.

Some call it the Levant, and some call it the Arab Levant, and some call it the Fertile Crescent, and some others ‘Souristan’. All these appellations refer to a region of diverse ethnicities, deeply divided, abundant in conflicts, which in its history has been exposed to what no other region of the world has been exposed to in terms of invasions and calamities. Geography has played against the history of this region and the stability of its peoples and civilizations.