MECC
Leaders and Positions
Video - His Holiness Pope Tawadros II: "The path to heaven is the path of love"
22-9-2025
Honoring the Late Reverend Hovhannes P. Aharonian with the Naming of a Meeting Hall of the First Armenian Evangelical Church of Beirut
One of the leading ecclesiastical and ecumenical figures of the 20th century in the Middle East, the late Rev. Hovhannes P. Aharonian (1909-1986), was honored on Sept. 27, 2025, with the naming of a meeting hall of the First Armenian Evangelical Church of Beirut. Lay and clergy heads of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East (UAECNE) were joined by ecumenical leaders in a special service of dedication for the opening of the newly-renovated Aharonian Hall.
Gathering in the church yard, the Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian, Acting President of the UAECNE, President of Haigazian University in Lebanon, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) for the Evangelical Family, welcomed the approximately forty persons present and undid the ribbon at the doors, after which the attendees sang a hymn of praise in Armenian and proceeded to the Hall. Pausing at the entranceway, Rev. Haidostian noted the commemorative wall displaying highlights of Rev. Aharonian’s Armenian Evangelical and ecumenical leadership.
Leaders and Positions
Video - His Beatitude Patriarch Mor Ignatius Joseph III Younan: “Pastors of service, righteousness, piety and integrity”
29-9-2025
Discover the House and Museum of Metropolitan Antonios Bashir - Douma
Exclusive: Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)
By the Journalist Lea Adel Maamary
Douma is preparing to welcome His Beatitude Patriarch John X, the Blessed Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, at the invitation of Metropolitan Silouan Moussi, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Byblos and Batroun and Dependencies. His Beatitude carried his pastoral slogan since his enthronement as Patriarch of the See of Antioch: "With grace we grow, with service we rise, and with love we build in harmony."
Yes, His Beatitude visited Saint John Monastery in Douma in the Easter Season of 2012, during the ministry of the Highly Respected Metropolitan George Khodr.
Today, Douma, with all its Congregations, is preparing to welcome him as the 158th Patriarch of the See of Peter and Paul. He is the Father of Fathers and the Shepherd of Shepherds, who preserved the deposit of faith despite crises.
Video - "Ecumenical Horizons" Program: Fifteenth Episode
Produced by the Middle East Council of Churches
“Ecumenical Horizons” is a weekly program that features spiritual, cultural, intellectual, educational, youth and environmental topics.
Leaders and Positions
Video - His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai: Consecration of Lebanon and the East to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Issues Its Weekly Newsletter
“Momentum”
26-9-2025
This issue includes reports, videos, news, articles, and a full coverage of the latest developments of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), as well as the Church, Ecumenical, and social events…
This is in addition to the weekly word of the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs which is entitled in this issue “It Happened in Kazakhstan”.
You can check the issue via the following link: https://mailchi.mp/da24c0dafa97/momentum-mecc-weekly-newsletter.
You can also subscribe to the Momentum Newsletter via the following link: https://mecc.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?id=fd3381352a&u=1db32cafe9ea32b38eb90480a.
It Happened in Kazakhstan
Professor Michel Abs
The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)
It happened in Kazakhstan that a people decided to establish a state that respects beliefs, laws, and human rights, and thus the State of Kazakhstan was born.
It happened in Kazakhstan that a nation made up of one hundred and twenty religious and ethnic groups chose to become one people, embracing the social contract and entrusting its destiny and future to institutions, the only guarantee for peoples in the modern age.
It happened in Kazakhstan that a nation became aware of its past, understood it, reconciled with it, learned from its lessons, and made it a foundation for its future, drawing from it values and incentives for a better life.
It happened in Kazakhstan that a people wanted to share their experience with the world, driven by a concern for bringing people, beliefs, identities, and affiliations closer together, for the sake of a future for humanity not threatened by destructive and futile conflicts.
It happened in Kazakhstan that the desire to share the results of social and cultural experiences with humanity was so strong that it went beyond the borders of the country, reaching a global dimension.
It happened in Kazakhstan that a state with active institutions sought to institutionalize its experience in order to make it universal, thus came the Eighth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, held this year. Institutionalization is the guarantee of continuity and sustainability, based on the experience of a state with successful institutions…