With the Blessing and Presence of His Eminence Bishop Paul Rouhana

In preparation for the Glorious Christmas Feast, and with the blessing and presence of His Eminence Bishop Paul Rouhana, Patriarchal Vicar of the Maronite Diocese of Sarba in Lebanon and Honorary Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), the Council's General Secretariat team, headed by the Secretary General Professor Michel Abs, met for a Christmas gathering held on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, at the Near East School of Theology (NEST) in Beirut.

The gathering brought together Reverend Dr. Rima Nasrallah, Dean of NEST; Mrs. Seta Hadeshian, MECC Associate Secretary General; and colleagues from the MECC General Secretariat team.

The meeting began with a heartfelt address by the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs who wished the team continued health, success, and prosperity for the good of the Church and society.

Then, His Eminence Bishop Paul Rouhana delivered a spiritual talk, discussing the true meaning of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ and how to live this blessed time with love, humility, and peace, guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ.

His Eminence also spoke about the importance of human fraternity and the necessity of working towards the humanization of humanity and the preservation of human dignity. As well as, he addressed the topic of Christian unity and how to embody it among all people with great love and deep hope.

“A Light in the Darkness of an Age of Decline”

It is the Christmas season, the day the Word became flesh and became a human being, the day the Lord came to His own to redeem them with His pure blood for the sake of the new covenant, the covenant of the Son of Man.

The whole world rejoices in the Christmas season. Societies adorn themselves, put on the garment of celebration, and spare no expense so they may live the season and celebrate the feast that illuminates humanity’s dark night.

Yet we are not certain that, at the height of the joy and delight that accompany the feast, those celebrating truly grasp the depths of the Nativity and the symbolism of the Incarnation, or even still remember them amid the rush of festivities and the frenzy of shopping, in a society that has elevated spending and extravagance above spiritual contemplation and faithful austerity.

Across the world, the sounds of Christmas celebrations rise, noise and commotion so intense that the feast loses its true meaning and becomes a set of social occasions in which the symbolism of the event is lost and its significance fades away.

When you watch Christmas celebrations in many places around the world, you are struck by the complete absence of the Great Incarnate One around whom the occasion revolves. You are also astonished by the invention of strange forms unrelated to the event, most of them consumerist in nature, offering nothing that explains the meaning of the feast or its lesson.

An event of such importance is reduced to a collection of promotional entertainment activities that serve its purpose in no way.

This is the peak of decline that leads to the depths of darkness…

And Contributes in the Development of the SouthConnect Initiative

As part of empowering women in Lebanon and developing their capabilities, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) organized a workshop entitled "SouthConnect," with the participation of women from various social fields and sectors. The workshop took place on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Sidon and South Lebanon.

This workshop was held in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the "Al Majmouaa" Foundation, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), the Lebanese Economic Institute, private sector companies, financial entities, and microfinance institutions (MFIs).

“Momentum”

19-12-2025

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 in this issue, the speech he delivered at the opening of the MECC Executive Committee meeting, held on December 10 and 11, 2025, in Beirut.

You can check the issue via the following link: https://mailchi.mp/03ba2c7624df/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.

Professor Michel Abs

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

Your Beatitudes, Eminences, Graces, and Honored Guests,
Esteemed Associate Secretary Generals,
Respected Colleagues,

The Executive Committee convenes today while the region is passing through a transitional phase marked by a difficult and painful struggle. The major transformations taking place in the region will inevitably have profound effects on its social and cultural structures and its future.

Amid this regional turmoil that places our societies in the eye of the storm, the Church strives to remain steadfast, both in its institutions, which are struggling greatly to continue as much as possible, and in its parishes, the people of the Church, who face daily living hardships on all levels. The least of these difficulties is economic; the most severe is the uncertainty of the future and the aspirations of rising generations.

Migration is affecting all segments of our societies, especially in the Antiochian Levant, as well as the Nile Valley and North Africa. Poverty is spreading, drought and climate change are sweeping across the region, and day after day we grow more certain that we do not control our destiny nor the course of our lives, neither in the everyday sense nor in the long term.

It is in such a psychological, social, and economic atmosphere that we work, an atmosphere in which nothing promises good except what the global powerholders, the architects of the “deep state,” have written for us. These are the actors who determine our destinies, even in our misery. The recent decisions regarding funding for humanitarian institutions, which have negatively affected our work, fall squarely within this framework and represent only the tip of the iceberg of a now-visible domination over the world’s resources…

Arabic Translation of the 1997 Aleppo Statement and Details of the Proceedings of the Global Symposium “Easter 2025: Celebrating together to strengthen unity”

As part of its mission in promoting Theological dialogue, strengthening the Ecumenical spirit, and addressing Ecclesial issues related to unity, the Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) at the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) releases a new publication for the 1997 Aleppo Statement related to the common date of celebrating Easter/Resurrection. This publication responds to a renewed Ecclesial and intellectual need in our region and reflects ongoing discussions on this issue at the local, regional, and global levels.

This publication comes at a highly significant Ecumenical context, coinciding with the 1700th Commemoration of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325) and the unified date of Easter in all Churches in 2025. This has revived the old-new hope that the common celebration of the Feast can become a permanent rule, not a fleeting exception. It also reflects the desire of the MECC to actively contribute to a deeper understanding of the roots of the existing differences surrounding the date of Easter, the Biblical, Theological, and historical foundations that have governed its emergence and development, and the serious Ecumenical efforts made over the decades to address it.

Secretary General Professor Michel Abs “If faith is not in the service of the human being and society, then what is its role?”

Believing in the importance of raising awareness about various social and humanitarian issues, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) has released a new publication entitled "The Middle East Council of Churches: Complete Record of 23 Symposiums, Round Tables, and Webinars of the Dialogue, Social Cohesion, and Human Dignity Rehabilitation Program."

This publication culminates a series of seminars and roundtables organized by the Middle East Council of Churches, featuring speakers, experts, and academics from diverse fields and sectors of life across the Middle East.

In its pages, the publication includes all lectures, presentations, and speeches delivered at these seminars, addressing topics that affect every human being on this earth.

The publication’s introduction is written by the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, who said: “If faith is not in the service of the human being and society, then what is its role? This is the fundamental question we posed at the Middle East Council of Churches when we launched, three years ago, the Human Dignity Seminars. We, the children of the Church and of society, have a particular sensitivity to the needs of our community, its crises, and the aspirations of its people, rooted in our deep belief that the Lord became incarnate and redeemed us so that we may have life, and have it more abundantly”…

On the occasion of the Anniversary of His Election as Patriarch of the See of Antioch

On the occasion of the Anniversary of the Election of His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Successor of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the Thirteenth of the Holy Apostles, as Patriarch of the See of Antioch and All the East for the Greek Orthodox, the Secretary General Professor Dr. Michel Abs, the Secretary General Professor Dr. Michel Abs extends, in the name of the family of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), his warmest congratulations to His Beatitude, President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) for the Orthodox family, asking the Lord to grant him strength and health to lead the Church to safety in light of the difficult circumstances that the region is passing through, as well as more graces and bless his service and contributions in the field of the Lord.

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) also wishes His Beatitude Patriarch John X many years with the power of the Holy Spirit, and continued health and holiness in his pastoral mission so that he may remain a faithful leader of the Holy Church and a model in his love for Christ.

Video - A Special Christmas Episode with the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs, and Father Charbel El Khoury, Parish Priest of Our Lady - Amchit in Lebanon

Prepared and Presented by the Journalist Lea Adel Maamary

Produced By MECC

The MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs Participates in the Mass

From 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