Report: April 27th, 2023

The Middle East Council of Churches is being involved in the relief and rehabilitation efforts in Syria under the name of "Rescue Syria Campaign" through which the Council shall be dealing with the relief efforts in this emergency period and later on with rehabilitation plans in order to help people survive properly and resume a normal life with dignity.

MECC will be publishing a periodical report under the name of "Rescue Syria Update" which will keep you informed about the developments of MECC action as well as the overall situation in a context analysis perspective. 

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 joint statement issued by the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox Patriarchates of Antioch and All the East on the 10th yearly commemoration of the abduction of the Archbishops of Aleppo, His Eminence Metropolitan Boulos Yaziji and His Eminence Metropolitan Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim. As for the weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, it is entitled “Behind the Screen of Hate”. It was the speech that Dr. Abs delivered at the seminar organized by MECC, on the commemoration of the abduction of the two Archbishops of Aleppo, on Monday 24 April 2023.

The faces of loved ones disappeared, vanished in time and place, in circumstances that we do not know, and for reasons that, in most cases, are mysterious to us.

Disappearance, abduction, forced absence, call the phenomenon whatever you like, but the action is the same, the actor is the same, and the results are close, or the same.

Thus, quite simply, a person is among his family and loved ones, and suddenly he is not there anymore.

He becomes a remembrance, anguish, longing, anticipation, and even waiting, feelings known to those who suffer in vain.

When a person is immersed in activities of a conflictual nature, he must not rule out a fate of this kind, abduction or enforced disappearance. But why should a person who did not indulge in this fray reach such a fate?

Is it the collateral damage of the conflicts of rival, contradictory, disparate groups?

Collateral damage! How easy and painful at the same time is  this expression!

Organized by Saint Joseph University in Beirut

Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs: MECC is a place of Christian togetherness, as it aims to build bridges between the various Church families and all components of the society

The Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut organized a forum on citizenship and NGO under the title "Advocating for a Better Tomorrow", with the participation of the Middle East Council of Churches along with more than 60 NGOs. The forum was held on Wednesday 26 April 2023, in the Human Sciences Campus (CSH) and Medical Sciences Campus (CSM).

The Middle East Council of Churches, Communication and Public Relations Department, have now issued its online Ecumenical calendar for the month of May 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.

A Lecture Organized by the Near East School of Theology

4 May 2023, 5:30 pm – at the School’s Campus, Hamra, Beirut

The Near East School of Theology in Beirut invites you to a public lecture entitled “What Does Climate Change Have to Do with the Christian Faith?”, delivered by Clive Pearson, Senior Research Fellow in Public Theology at Charles Stuart University, Former Principle of United Theological College in Sydney and Head of the School of Theology. It will be held on 4 May 2023, at 5:30 pm, in the campus of the Near East School of Theology, Sourati Street (off Jeanne D’Arc), Hamra, Beirut.

On Charity Radio TV

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs was the guest of the journalist Zouhour Abou Mansour, on “Hawana Hawak” program broadcatsed on Charity Radio TV, on Tuesday 25 April 2023.

During the phone interview, Dr. Abs highlighted the seminar organized by MECC on the 10th yearly commemoration of the abduction of the Archbishops of Aleppo, on Monday 24 April 2023, and spoke about the statement issued by MECC, in which it was declared that 22 April of each year will be the "Ecumenical Day of the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented". In addition, Dr. Abs talked, during the interview, about the issue of the abducted and forcibly absented, and the violation of human dignity.

"Advocating for a Better Tomorrow"

26 April 2023, 11 am - Human Sciences Campus and Medical Sciences Campus

The Faculty of Religious Sciences and the Institute of Muslim-Christian Studies at Saint Joseph University in Beirut are organizing a Citizenship and NGO Forum under the title "Advocating for a Better Tomorrow", in which the Middle East Council of Churches is participating along with more than 60 NGOs. The forum will also include a speech delivered by the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs.

On the tenth yearly commemoration of the abduction of the Archbishops of Aleppo, His Eminence Archbishop Boulos Yaziji and His Eminence Archbishop Mor Gregorius Youhanna Ibrahim, the Middle East Council of Churches organized a seminar entitled “The Issue of the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented, Violation of Human Dignity,” on Monday 24 April 2023. At the end of the seminar, MECC issued a statement in which it declared that 22 April of each year will be the "Ecumenical Day of the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented".

On commemoration of the Armenian Genocide

The MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs Participates in the Service

In commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos of the Armenian Catholic Church of Cilicia, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches for the Catholic Family, presided over a Divine Liturgy on Monday 24 April 2023, at Saint-Grégoire School in Achrafieh, Lebanon.

His Beatitude was assisted in the service by Priests and Deacons, in the presence of His Beatitude Mor Ignatius Youssef III Younan, Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, the Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon, His Eminence Monsignor Paolo Borgia, the Latin Apostolic Vicar in Lebanon His Eminence Monsignor César Essayan, as well as Bishops from various churches.

In the WCC Annual Meeting with the General Secretaries of the Regional Ecumenical Organizations

Towards Justice, Peace and Reconciliation

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs participated in the annual meeting organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC), with the participation of the General Secretaries of regional Ecumenical organizations, with the aim of discussing how to enhance cooperation and coordination between them. The meeting was held on 19 and 20 April 2023, at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Geneva, Switzerland.

The meeting contributed to bridging between the participants and consolidating the Ecumenical spirit in order to develop the work within the one Ecumenical movement. During the meeting, the attendees discussed opinions and experiences in order to develop partnership among them aiming at walking together towards achieving justice, peace, preserving human dignity, as well as reaching reconciliation and unity.

The Middle East Council of Churches announces that, based on the decision of the Executive Committee, the 22nd of April of each year, the day of the kidnapping of the two Archbishops of Aleppo, Metropolitan Boulos Yaziji and Metropolitan Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim, is named

"The Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented"

This day becomes part of MECC’s work calendar, and contesting this phenomenon becomes part of its projects in the field of awareness and advocacy, within the programs for the Rehabilitation of Social Capital and Human Dignity.

The concerned MECC working teams will start specialized programs in this field and at various levels, with the concerned ecclesiastical, civil and international organizations. The MECC will also hold a specialized symposium on the issue of Abduction and Forced Absence every year on the same date.

MECC in a Seminar and Commemoration

The issue of the Abducted and Forcibly Absented, a Violation of Human Dignity

His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian:

We Call on the Competent Local and International Parties to Search and Reveal the Unknown Fate of the Archbishops

Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs Declares

April 22 of Each Year as the Ecumenical Day of the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented

On the tenth yearly commemoration of the abduction of the Archbishops of Aleppo, His Eminence Archbishop Boulos Yaziji and His Eminence Archbishop Mor Gregorius Youhanna Ibrahim, and based on the decision of the Executive Committee, the Middle East Council of Churches held, on Monday 24 April 2023 a seminar entitled

The Issue of the Abducted and Forcibly Absented

Violation of Human Dignity

Under the patronage and in the presence of His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos of the Armenian Catholic Church of Cilicia, and MECC President for the Catholic Family, and under the patronage of His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and MECC President for the Orthodox Family, and His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, and MECC Honorary President. The seminar was also in the presence of His Eminence Metropolitan Silouan Moussi, Greek Orthodox Bishop of Byblos, Batroun and Dependencies (Mount Lebanon), and online participation of His Eminence Mor Clemis Daniel Kourieh, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut.

By the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East and the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East

Beloved brothers, sisters, and spiritual children,
Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen!
We greet you today in this festive and exalted Paschal period, having our eyes fixed on the cross of suffering, and knowing that the Lord of glory transformed this cross of suffering into a cross of glory. Today, we remember the cross carried by the Christians living in this Middle East, suffering from murder, displacement, and terror. Today, we remember the spear which has marked for us as Christians, in the last two thousand years, the Passion of our Lord at the Calvary, and the other spear which has wounded us for the last ten years ago, and this wound has not been healed. Today, we remember the kidnapping of our brothers, the Archbishops of Aleppo, Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, which occurred on April 22, 2013.

Report: April 20th, 2023

The Middle East Council of Churches is being involved in the relief and rehabilitation efforts in Syria under the name of "Rescue Syria Campaign" through which the Council shall be dealing with the relief efforts in this emergency period and later on with rehabilitation plans in order to help people survive properly and resume a normal life with dignity.

MECC will be publishing a periodical report under the name of "Rescue Syria Update" which will keep you informed about the developments of MECC action as well as the overall situation in a context analysis perspective.