H.E. Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen: guaranteeing the religious freedom in Lebanon is good news for the country, the region and the world

Aiming at building Ecclesiastical bridges between the East and West, His Eminence Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro, visited the offices of the Middle East Council of Churches’ General Secretariat in Beirut, on Thursday 13 October 2022. He was accompanied by a delegation from the Diocese in the UK, including Rachael Varney, Executive Assistant, David Fieldsend, International Affairs Adviser, and Revd Etienne Van Blerk, alongside Dr. Mike Bassous, General Secretary of the Bible Society. At MECC, Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs and a team from the Council's General Secretariat welcomed the delegation.

Decisions to Strengthen the Ecumenical Spirit

The Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME) held its General Assembly’s meeting online on Tuesday 11 October 2022. Attendees were ATIME’s President Archimandrite Dr. Jack Khalil, its Executive Secretary Father Dr. Michael Kanbar, and the Director of the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar, alongside the deans of the faculties and institutes, members in ATIME.

During the meeting, the participants discussed many topics and issues, which are following up on the “Season of Creation” project and ways to enhance and support it, and preparing for the environmental symposium which will be held in May 2023 in coordination with the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department.

On the 16th of October, the founding day of the Food and Agriculture Organization, also called World Food Day, this organization is active in organizing advanced, rich and well-prepared events in order to raise awareness of food, food security, malnutrition, famine, rural migration and everything related to these phenomena.

In a related context, statistics from the various sites concerned with the subject overwhelm you with the problems faced by the oppressed subjugated people as well as subjugated classes in non-subjugated peoples, in terms of food, drink, housing, health care and other related matters...Statistical figures showing millions of people that are hungry, homeless and deprived of the minimum conditions of life as well as of the number of those who have no tomorrow, who do not know their fate and those who suffer from life problems, both physical and psychological, fill the pages of the institutions concerned with their issues and their pictures in their displacement, asylum and misery consolidate the image of the inhumane face of humanity and its eagerness to dance on existing pain.

Wednesday 19 and Saturday 22 October 2022

Let us participate together and via SAT7 in the rerun of the Ecumenical Prayer Service on the occasion of the “Season of Creation” closing, on Wednesday 19 October 2022 at 10 pm Beirut time, and Saturday 22 October 2022 at 5 pm Beirut time.

Noting that the Prayer was organized by the Middle East Council of Churches, and was held under the patronage and presidency of His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East; at the Church of the Patriarchal Edifice in Bkerke, Lebanon, on the eve of the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, on Monday 3 October 2022.

Women in Lebanon, just like any members of our society, have been severely impacted by the dire socioeconomic conditions haunting the country. Their sources of livelihood have been put to the test the same way their mental health has been impacted. For this reason, the Service and Relief – Diakonia Department, Beirut’s Office, at the Middle East Council of Churches, organized a Crochet Knitting workshop, in an attempt to alleviate such burdens.

During the workshop, women, from different age groups, were taught how to make crochet using balls of yarn and a pair of needles. They got the chance to learn a new skill, which they can use to start their own small business or make decorations for their homes.

It is a fact that unequipped WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) facilities that do not meet good hygiene conditions constitute a danger that might cause the spread of diseases among students.

Therefore, The Service and Relief Department –Diakonia, at The Middle East Council of Churches, Damascus’ Office, rehabilitated the WASH facilities in Aartouz Third (Al Thaletha) School and Aartouz Mixed (Mukhtalata) School in Aartouz, Josef Abou Zedan School in Sehnaya and Mohamad Husein Eid School in Jdaihet Aartouz City in Rural Damascus in order to secure a healthy environment for students and teachers.

The rehabilitation activities included the rehabilitation of WASH infrastructure and its equipment, maintenance of the drinking water network, installation of taps, toilets, doors, tile, ceramic, electric cables, water pumps and pipes in addition to completing the required painting activities.

The “Season of Creation” media coverage is still ongoing in the Middle East. Charity Radio TV broadcasted a special episode centered on this international season, within “Hawana Hawak” program. It was prepared and presented by Zouhour Abou Mansour.

The guest of the episode was the Director of the Theological and Ecumenical Department of the Middle East Council of Churches Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar, who tackled the objectives of the season, its importance and all related details. Fr. Al Ahmar shed light also on the MECC work in launching the season in the region, as well as the events and celebrations which it organizes for the occasion.

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 a special coverage, photos and videos about the Ecumenical Prayer service organized by MECC on the occasion of the “Season of Creation” closing, under the patronage and presidency of His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, in Bkerke, Lebanon, on Monday 3 October 2022. As for the weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, it is entitled “They are our seniors”, in which he tackled the elderlies’ situations and circumstances, in light of the MECC third monthly webinar focusing on this topic.

They are our elders, our ancient oaks, the storehouse of our memory and the treasure of our wisdom. We resort to them in calamities, and by their opinion we are guided, as they bestow upon us the experience, wisdom and foresight that they have paid for dearly in their life.

They call them the elderly, and some of them call them the aging, and kindly they call them the third age. It is the most vulnerable, defenseless and marginalized group. It is the category that some think it is not needed and will not be needed, so they neglect it and do not care about it.

We saw some of them roaming the streets, begging to elicit sympathy from people. Some of them are looking for food in garbage containers, and others are thrown in the beds of the elderly shelters, as the name has been applied in Lebanon and some Arab countries, and some of them roam the hot meals restaurants established by some associations, eat what they can and hide what they can in a box they brought with them, in order to protect themselves from the evil of hunger for two or three days. As for the most fortunate among them, he is the one who obtained during his life a job with a pension plan, so he was safe from the evil of humiliation, need and homelessness, because the end of service indemnity is exhausted within a few years after receiving it.

A society that allows the dignity of its elders to be insulted can only be described as ingrate, political ungratefulness that leads to social and human ungratefulness.