"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5: 4)

“To forget is to bury the truth, but to commemorate is to learn and avoid the repetition of the genocide” (His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II)

Much of what is published on social networking pages, and in the media in general, shows how widespread and increasingly dominant hate speech is in people's minds.

We read, hear, and see in the media words, pictures, and graphic scenes that offend racial, ethnic, religious, national, political, or other form of belonging and identity, as an attempt is made to focus on the characteristics of a given target group with hate speech, trying to demonize it, and present it to the viewer or reader in the most horrible way.

From the Coptic Orthodox Holy Sophia University at the USA

Under the auspices of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark and the President of Coptic Orthodox Holy Sophia University at the United States of America, and His Grace Bishop David, Bishop of the Diocese of New York and New England and the Vice President of the University, Mr. Gergis Ibrahim Saleh, Honorary Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches, was granted the degree of Honorary Doctorate in Biblical Studies, on Tuesday 13 June 2023, in a ceremony held at the Papal Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

As part of capacities’ improvement and life skill’s development, the Middle East Council of Churches, Service and Relief – Diakonia Department, Jordan Office, with the support of the international organization ACT Alliance, ACT JOR231, and in cooperation with the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in Amman, implemented two courses to enhance livelihoods. A first course was organized in Amman on elderly companion care, and a second course in Madaba about sewing art. These two courses ended with a graduation ceremony for all participants.

Father Dr.  Antoine Al Ahmar Sheds Lights on the “Season of Creation” On Mariam TV

In preparation for the “Season of Creation” celebrations for this year, Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar, Director of the Theological and Ecumenical Department at the Middle East Council of Churches, and member of the International Steering Committee for the "Season of Creation", was the guest of the journalist and Lawyer Roy Jreish, within the program "On Time", broadcasted on Mariam TV, on Tuesday 12 June 2023.

On a visit to MECC in Beirut

The ACT Alliance Regional Representative – MENA, Mrs. Rachel Luce, visited the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs, on Monday 12 June 2023, at the offices of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut.

During the meeting, Dr. Abs and Mrs. Luce discussed ways to strengthen coordination and cooperation between the Middle East Council of Churches and ACT Alliance. They also discussed the implementation of various projects and programs in Lebanon and the region, especially in fields related to the environment, climate change, and gender issues. As well as, Dr. Abs and Mrs. Luce exchanged opinions and experiences on the possibility of planning joint work and future projects in Iraq, Egypt and Sudan.

With the Presence of Reverend Dr. Paul Haidostian, MECC President for the Evangelical Family, President of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East, and President of Haigazian University in Lebanon, and the church Reverend Pastors, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), Dr. Michel Abs, attended meeting at Haigazian University to honor the CEO of the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA), Mr Zaven Khanjian and his spouse.

After the Earthquake that Struck the North of the Antiochian Levant

Following the catastrophic earthquake that shook the North of the Antiochian Levant, the Middle East Council of Churches’ team in Syria made an interview with His Eminence Archbishop Youssef Tobji, the Maronite Archbishop of Aleppo and the Head of the Ecumenical Relief Committee for Relief in Aleppo, which was formed by MECC initiative with Churches’ representatives in Syria, aiming at supporting the affected people and help them restore their homes.

What Are the Implications of this Event?

Since the first century AD, the Coptic Church celebrates on the first of June of each year an Ecclesiastical Feast that has a special place in history, geography and civilization, according to the His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. It is the Feast of the Entry of the Holy Family into the Land of Egypt, after taking a journey full of hardships, torments, and dangers, to escape from King Herod.

Hence, the path of the Holy Family carries many spiritual, historical and cultural meanings and connotations, in addition to a tourist aspect, as His Holiness Pope Tawadros II described this path as "a special blessing and a unique gift that God gave to Egypt."

Report : May, 2023

With the rapprochement between former rivals continuing to materialize, pieces of the Middle East puzzle are starting to fall into place. Recently Syria has been reintroduced into the family of the Arab League, after a spat that lasted several years. With the world suffering from the war in Ukraine, this step can mitigate the effects by promoting economic and political cooperation.

In the new issue of the weekly newsletter Momentum issued by the Middle East Council of Churches, Communication and Public Relations Department, the MECC issues the “Season of Creation” Arabic Guide for this year, under the title “Let Justice and Peace Flow”. MECC translated the booklet into Arabic which is adopted internationally and in different languages. As for the weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, it is entitled “Authority, Leadership and Vision”, in which he highlighted the basic concepts on which modern society operates. They are the authority which is the guarantee of social order, the leadership which is the action that identifies, develops and uses existing potentials and resources in society. As well as the vision which includes the shared beliefs and values of the organization and is the basis of the culture of the group or organization.

Authority is the guarantee of social order, when a society - or a group - enters into a state of chaos, there is no way to establish order except through authority.

This is in absolute terms, but in practical life, power is embodied in a specific person, who is required to exercise authority in order to protect the stability of a given society or group, either through instructions, directives, or orders, or through leadership practices that ensure the restoration of a situation to a former state. Whatever the case is, the person detaining authority enjoys the spiritual power of coercion or compulsion, and this religious or moral ground for power draws the lines of regulations necessary to safeguard stability in a society or in a group.

Chaos is a hidden force in our daily lives. It had been so in the past and is still so in modern society, although in different forms. In a complex society, in which crises abound, chaos may turn the social establishment upside down overnight, as is best exemplified in our day and age.