Monsignor Antoine Audo on KTO TV: The Syrian people have determination and will move forward to overcome all difficulties

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake which struck Turkey, Syria and some countries in the Middle East, the Middle East Council of Churches launched a relief appeal through a statement issued by its Presidents and Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs on Monday 6 February 2023. In the statement, MECC calls on the international community and the international Ecumenical family to provide urgent emergency aid to the region, and urge the immediate lifting of sanctions on Syria and allowing access to all materials.

The Middle East Council of Churches Calls On the International Community for Emergency Aid and Urges for Lifting Sanctions on Syria to Allow the Access of All Materials

Following the devastating earthquake which hit the north of the Middle East region, the Presidents of the Middle East Council of Churches held an emergency meeting, today on Monday 6 February 2023, in the presence of His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and MECC President for the Orthodox Family, represented by His Eminence Metropolitan Saba Esber, His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos of the Armenian Catholic Church and MECC President for the Catholic Family, His Grace Anba Antonios, Metropolitan of Jerusalem and the Near East for the Coptic Orthodox Church and MECC President for the Eastern Orthodox Family, Reverend Dr. Paul Haidostian, President of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East, President of Haigazian University in Lebanon and MECC President for the Evangelical Family, alongside the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs.

Skills development and capacity building are main objectives that the Middle East Council of Churches is seeking to achieve with its team work in Beirut and in the various countries of the region. This is in order to develop the potential of its members and enhance their professional, cultural, intellectual and spiritual performance.

Within this context, the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs launched a training program which includes many monthly sessions focusing on the basics of organizational behavior and its foundations, in addition to its importance, especially in the institutions’ management. Thus, Dr. Abs held the first training session on Thursday 2 February 2023, during which attendees were the team work who participated at the offices of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut and online via Zoom.

In the new issue of the weekly newsletter Momentum issued by the Middle East Council of Churches, Communication and Public Relations Department, you can find the weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, entitled “Interfaith Harmony”, on the occasion of the International Week of Interfaith Harmony which extends from 1 to 7 February every year.

The issue also includes a news about the visit of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, heading an MECC delegation, to His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia, at the Catholicosate in Antelias, Lebanon.

Today begins the International Week of Interfaith Harmony, which is credited for its initiation to His Majesty King Abdullah II, King of Jordan, at the United Nations in 2010, with the aim of promoting cultural peace and renunciation of violence.

The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and approved this proposal and designated the first week of February as the International Week of Interfaith Harmony,  blending in it the promotion of religious and ethnic conflicts as well as requesting that all governments and NGOs celebrate it in various ways by initiating activities as well as programs that would help achieve harmony in a world in which interreligious as well as interethnic conflicts abound.

The United Nations also considered that dialogue between people belonging to different religions that would lead to mutual acceptance and understanding, constitutes the cornerstone for a culture of peace at international level, as well as for harmony between adepts to different religions in the world.

Thus, this week's activities constitute attempts intended to promote harmony among people of all religious creeds and sectarian affiliations.

Report: January 2023

Despite the positive advancements some Middle East countries are witnessing, others such as Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine are struggling amid economic difficulties. So far, global inflation has yet to let up and global recession might be soon upon us. As such, it will be difficult for most of these countries to maneuver past all the global changes. Hopefully, better off countries, especially those that benefited from the increase in oil prices, would offer assistance or forms of partnership that can boost the regional economy.       

The MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs Presents a Lecture at USJ in Beirut:

There should be a connection between science and religion in order to guarantee both protection, so people’s religion may face people's tyrant and hence serve other people

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs delivered a lecture entitled “Religion and Power: Relations and Challenges”, on Wednesday 25 January 2023, at the Humanities Campus at the Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut. This lecture was part of a series of seminars organized by the Department of Religious Sciences at the Faculty of Religious Sciences at USJ, under the title of “The Relation Between Power and Religion”.

Attendees were the Rector of the Faculty of Religious Sciences at USJ Father Salah Abou Jaoudeh, the Director of the Higher Institute of Religious Studies at the University, Sister Yara Matta, the Director of the Department of Religious Sciences at the Faculty Dr. Marguerite Asmar Bou Aoun. As well as, participants were professors and students from the Saint Joseph University and the Lebanese University.