FOR 8 MONTHS NOW!

A CALL TO STOP THE BLOCKADE!

For the second time, Azerbaijan has isolated Artsakh through a blockade, with the first blockade lasting three years (1989 - 1992).

Political and diplomatic developments are not able to pressure Azerbaijan to open the Latchin corridor for humanitarian assistance from the Republic of Armenia to Stepanakerd population (Artsakh known as the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh) in blockade since 12 December 2022, now for more than eight months!  The stories of children, women and the elderly suffering from blockade, lack of medication, food, electricity, gas and internet cut, do not reach the world to tell about the intentions of Azerbaijan to exterminate the Artsakhiots, the indigenous population, without any means of defense and survival. 

On the occasion of the Fifty Years of His Monasticism

The Middle East Council of Churches, Presidents, Executive Committee Members, and the General Secretariat, extends its warmest congratulations to His Beatitude Pope Theodoros II, Greek Orthodox Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, on the occasion of the fifty years of his monasticism, and wishes him many years of prosperity, blessings and holiness.

The Middle East Council of Churches also wishes His Beatitude good health and success in his Pastoral mission, and raises its Prayers to the Lord Jesus Christ to grant him determination in his service and Christian testimony.

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, which title is “Three years elapsed”, in commemoration of the 4 August Blast which massively destroyed the capital Beirut.

On this painful commemoration, you can find a video that presents the stories of some of investments’ owners whose businesses were damaged by the Blast, shedding light on the contribution of the Middle East Council of Churches, through the Department of Diakonia and Social Service in Lebanon, in rehabilitating many of these small businesses and investments in order to help their owners restore their sources of livelihood after they lost everything they owned.

And with the Blessings of His Eminence Bishop Michel Kassarji

The Chaldean Church in Lebanon Invites You to an Evening of Prayer

On the Intention of Peace in Iraq and the Chaldean Church in It

Saturday 12 August 2023 - 6:00 pm, in the Archangel Raphael Cathedral in Baabda, Lebanon

Under the Patronage and Presence of His Beatitude Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and with the Blessings of His Eminence Bishop Michel Kassarji, Head of the Chaldean Community in Lebanon, the Chaldean Community in Lebanon invites you to a vigil of meditation, Prayer and chant, on the intention of peace in Iraq and the Chaldean Church in it. It will be held on Saturday 12 August 2023, at 6:00 pm, in the Archangel Raphael Cathedral in Baabda - Brasilia - Pierre El Helou Street, Lebanon.

Note: the Celebration’s duration will be one hour and a half.

The First Annual Student Conference

Respect for Creation is Glorification of the Creator

Maadi - Cairo, 2023

The Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (A.T.I.M.E) held its first annual student conference, at the Faculty of Humanities and Theological Sciences, Maadi - Cairo, from 23 to 30 July. The conference was organized and attended by the ATIME’s Predsident, Archimandrite Jack Khalil, ATIME’s Executive Secretary Father Michael Mikhael Kanbar, the Associate Executive Secretary Reverend Bishoy Helmi, and the Associate Executive Secretary Reverend Samuel Rosvi. The following members of the Association also attended and participated: Father Bishoy Rasmi, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Theological Sciences, Maadi - Cairo, Dr. Gerges Saleh, Dr. Adly Anis Souleiman, on behalf of the Theological Seminary in Cairo, Dr. Isaac Ibrahim Ajban Shenouda, on behalf of the Institute of Coptic Studies, Dr. Michael Edward Abdo Mikhael on behalf of the Institute of Care and Education, and Father Kevork Karakozian on behalf of the Higher Theological School - the Armenian Catholicosate of the House of Cilicia - Antelias, and Father Andraos Matta on behalf of the Seminary Faculty in Alexandria. The conference's guests, Reverend Dr. Benjamin Simon from the World Council of Churches, and Dr. Manal Nader, Director of the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Balamand, also participated.

On the fourth of this month, two days from now, it will be three years since the historic explosion that shook Beirut, Lebanon, and the world. This explosion was classified as one of the most powerful in human history after atomic ones.

At the time, under the pressure of the disaster’s horror, the people’s pain, and the anger of the masses, the Lebanese state promised to uncover the circumstances of the explosion and arrest those responsible for it within two weeks of its occurrence.

Searching for Hope Despite all Challenges

Video - The Middle East Council of Churches Contributes in Getting Back the Activity of the Affected Small Businesses

A third year has passed since the catastrophic 4 August Blast, and the wound is still deep and open... A disaster that destroyed the heart of the capital Beirut, and ignited the hearts of millions of people who lost their loved ones, as well as many memories buried under the rubble... A third year has passed, and the truth is still obscure and lost. Who will heal the grief of the victims’ families? And how Beirut’s wounds will be healed? Are the Lebanese people still clinging to hope?

Three years following the Beirut Port Blast, the capital's silos are still bent, but the will to live remains the strongest. Therefore, many initiatives seek to heal the Lebanese people’s wounds in order to restore hope to their lives, including aid assistance as well as moral and psychological support...

Report: July 2023

Introduction

The Middle East has been showing signs of economic improvement despite the economic slowdown everywhere else in the world. This has enticed regional and international players to delve deeper into the ME, using diplomatic, military, and economic means. Unfortunately, this has prompted tensions to rise across the region as world powers compete over who gets what. As such, the following question comes to mind: Will the ME be more divided as a result of the ambitions of global powers?

His Beatitude Pope Theodoros II, Greek Orthodox Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, received a delegation that included a group of Academicians from the Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME) and Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology in Balamand Lebanon, which is affiliated to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, and headed by Archimandrite Dr. Jack Khalil, Dean of Saint John of Damascus Institute, and ATIME’s President, in the presence of Father Dr. Michael Kanbar, ATIME’s Executive Secretary, Priest and Professor. This visit was held on Saturday 29 July 2023, at the Patriarchal Residence in Alexandria, Egypt.

The Holy Spirit Church in the Syriac Catholic Archbishopric of Homs, Syria, was inaugurated in 1935, and it is one of the few Churches in the world that takes the Holy Spirit as its Patron and bears its name.

In 2010, the Church was renovated and inaugurated on Christmas Eve. Three months later, the war in Syria began, and the Church paid a heavy price as it was heavily bombarded with rockets, causing damage to the two side facades of the Church and five openings in the dome. The icons, wooden benches, and windows were also subjected to burning, destruction, and theft.

On Charity Radio TV

With Dr. Laure Abi Khalil, the Coordinator of the MECC Social Rehabilitation Project

Dr. Laure Abi Khalil, the Coordinator of the Social Capital Rehabilitation Project at the Middle East Council of Churches, was the guest of the journalist Zouhour Aboun Mansour, in an episode within “Hawana Hawak” program, which was broadcasted on Charity Radio TV, on Friday 28 July 2023.

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, which title is “The Church in Defense of Creation”. It was his speech which was delivered at the opening of the conference ‘Respect for Creation is the Glorification of the Creator’, organized by the Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME), between 24 and 30 July 2023, in Egypt.

As part of its monthly seminars, you can also find the invitation of the Middle East Council of Churches to participate in its round table it organized under the title “Human Dignity and Palestinian Refugees”, on Thursday 27 July 2023.