Video - Christmas Message 2022 from the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs

Tell me, O manger, what happened that night when the Word was incarnated?

I swear to you by Him, by His wounds, and by His bleeding on the cross. Tell me, what happened on that enduring night?

Humble, incarnated and transformed into one of us, and settled in the most humble and poor places.

The Sun of Righteousness came down to us and chose to teach us a lesson about His birth: that the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.

With a simple cloth, his mother wrapped Him and laid Him in the manger, although she was the one who knew who He was.

And Celebrates the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” During this Month

The Communication and Public Relations Department at the Middle East Council of Churches have now issued its online Ecumenical calendar for the month of January 2023. 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 January includes one of the most important international Ecumenical occasions. It is the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity”, which MECC celebrates it in the region and with the world, between 18 and 25 January, every year.

At the end of 2022, it seems that the Middle East is breathing its last breath due to the exacerbation of the economic, social and living crises... and the ME people are being exhausted due to the daily pressures. Hence, the Middle East Council of Churches is keen to preserve human dignity, and seeks to sow hope in the hearts of the exhausted people through its various humanitarian programs. MECC is trying to support the most vulnerable groups in order to empower them and convince them that the will of life is stronger.

The MECC’s office in Jordan organized several programs related to various social sectors. The Council implemented a training course on the art of sewing, which it had launched in cooperation with the Rum Orthodox Church.

In a Book and Seminar

The MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs from the Antonine University in Lebanon:

Disability is a path of sustainable dynamism which needs continuous update

and will remain a priority on the MECC’s agenda

Fadi El Halabi: Dignity and diversity are the foundations to build citizenship

and our slogan will remain 'no to despair'

Aiming at raising awareness on the issue of disability and its concepts in the Arab world, a seminar was organized on the newly released book “The Question of Disability in the Arab World, A Roadmap for the Future”, at the invitation of the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (EDAN), in partnership with the Middle East Council of Churches. It was held on Friday 16 December 2022, at the Antonine University in Lebanon, with the participation of the University’s Rector Father Michel Jalkh and the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, alongside persons with disabilities, academics, specialists and guests from various fields.

Harassment at Work - Lecture and Training Seminar with the Vocational Training Center at Saint Joseph University in Beirut and Equal Foundation

The number of harassment’s victims at work is constantly increasing in our societies. Thus, working on ending this social issue is necessary, especially by raising awareness and emphasizing the risks of staying silent. Hence, a series of seminars and lectures about harassment’s types at work, whether sexual or moral, were held. It was organized in coordination with the Vocational Training Center at Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut and the “Equal” NGO, on Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 December 2022, at USJ’s campus.

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs presented a lecture followed by a training seminar which focused on the types and concepts of harassment at work, how to distinguish its forms, ways to avoid it, and how to deal with it when it is not possible to prevent it.

MECC Joins His Holiness in His Call to Lift the Blockade and Provide the Necessary Support

Following the blockade imposed on the “Lachin Corridor”, the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia, issued an appeal to the world in which he rang the alarm bell amidst the risk threatening the Armenians in Artsakh. From its end, the Middle East Council of Churches joins the voice of truth, the voice of His Holiness, and calls for lifting the siege, so that the world does not witness a new humanitarian catastrophe, but rather another massacre against the Armenian people. MECC also calls the decision-makers to help the Armenian people and support them in their ordeal.

In the new issue of the weekly newsletter Momentum issued by the Communication and Public Relations Department of the Middle East Council of Churches, the MECC releases the Arabic version of the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” Booklet 2023 entitled “Do good; seek justice” (Isaiah 1:17). As for the weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Abs, it is entitled “A prayer for unity in a time of rupture and loss”, and it is the introduction of the Arabic Version of the Book of Prayers for Christian Unity.

The issue also includes a video message from the Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs within 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. This is in addition to a video presenting an overview of the youth consultations sessions held as part of the Executive Committee meeting and highlighting their issues and opinions through some interviews. The videos are produced by the MECC Communication and Public Relations Department.