At the MECC Diakonia and Social Service Department - Lebanon’s Office

Cairo, Egypt | 4–6 October 2026

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), in partnership with the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS), and with the participation and support of the Presbyterian Church (USA) (PC(USA)), and The United Church of Canada, and the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), will convene a regional conference in Cairo from 4 to 6 October 2026, under the theme: “Countering Hate Speech: Promoting Human Dignity and Living Together.”

“Momentum”

18-9-2026

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 "Distorting Facts and Falsifying Documents, When the Corrupt Run Institutions - Part One".

You can check the issue via the following link: https://mailchi.mp/4219c9817950/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.

When the Corrupt Run Institutions

Part One

Professor Michel Abs

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

When an institution falls into the hands of people who manage it with a corrupt mentality, corruption is no longer merely the theft of money or the abuse of office. Gradually, it becomes the theft of truth itself.

This may be the most dangerous stage of corruption. Stolen money can be detected through accounts and audits, but stolen truth targets awareness, memory, documentation, and the narrative on which decisions are built.

The corrupt person fears not so much the money that has disappeared as the question that reveals where it went. He fears not so much the wrongdoing he committed as the document that proves he committed it. Therefore, when he feels that his position is threatened, his first instinct is to control the narrative: to distort facts, reinterpret events, alter minutes, change figures, conceal correspondence, selectively disclose information, or even fabricate events that never occurred.

Here we reach a dangerous core principle: corruption does not merely attempt to change what happened; it attempts to change people’s understanding of what happened.

A document within an institution is not merely a piece of paper; it is part of the institution’s memory. Minutes are not merely an administrative procedure; they are a record of what was said and decided. A figure is not merely an accounting value; it is evidence of the movement of money and resources. When these are falsified, the corrupt actor is no longer stealing money alone; he is stealing the institution’s ability to know its own truth…

Beirut – September 18, 2026

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) and Anba Abraam Charity in Jerusalem signed a cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening coordination and joint efforts in the humanitarian and Ecclesiastical fields, supporting initiatives and programs that serve local communities, and enhancing Christian communication, presence, and role in the Middle East.

The agreement was signed by His Grace Anba Antonios, Metropolitan of Jerusalem and the Near East for the Coptic Orthodox Church, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) for the Eastern Orthodox Family, and President of Anba Abraam Charity in Jerusalem, together with the MECC Secretary General Anba Abraam Charity. The signing took place on September 18, 2026, at the MECC headquarters in Hamra, Beirut.

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, received the Mayor of Kounin in the South of Lebanon Mr. Khalil Al-Dabak, accompanied by a delegation from the Municipality, on Friday, September 18, 2026, at the MECC headquarters in Beirut.

Attendees were the Director of the Lebanon’s Office at the MECC Diakonia and Social Service Department Ms. Nina Hallak, and the Coordinator of the Diakonia Department in the South of Lebanon Ms. Sara Hasrouni.

During the visit, Mr. Al-Dabak expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Council, particularly to its Diakonia and Social Service Department – Lebanon’s Office, for the assistance it has provided to residents of the town of Kounin, as well as to families and individuals who were forced to flee the town, and to displaced people who sought refuge there amidst the current circumstances.

Article by Dr Harry Hagopian

If you open the New Jerusalem Bible & seek verse 8:12 in St John’s Gospel, you will read that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” There’s an awful lot of darkness in our world, isn’t there, and this verse is about bringing the light of Christ into difficult situations. But what is this light? It is not about electricity but rather about truth and justice…

Discussions Centered on the Challenges that the Christian Presence is Facing in the Middle East, the Importance of Strengthening Unity and Partnership Among Churches, and the Unification of the Date of Easter

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, headed a delegation from the MECC General Secretariat on a visit to the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Mark the Apostle in Sin El Fil. He met with His Grace Anba Antonios, Metropolitan of Jerusalem and the Near East for the Coptic Orthodox Church, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) for the Eastern Orthodox Family.

The delegation included Professor Laure Abi Khalil, Coordinator of the Program for Dialogue, Social Cohesion and the Preservation of Human Dignity at MECC, and Lea Adel Maamary, Coordinator of Media and Church Relations at MECC.

Attendees were also the Head of the Coptic Orthodox Community in Lebanon and Syria Father Athanasius Rizk, Father Abanoub Al-Ourachalimi, Lawyer Abdallah Moussallem, and the Public Relations Officer Mr. Albert Gendy.

Chanted by the Seminarians of Saint Paul’ Seminary Harissa, Lebanon

Video – A Reflection by Fr. Dr. Michel Kanbar

Pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish, Al-Hajje, Lebanon

University Professor, Writer, and Historian

“Ecumenical Horizons” is a weekly program that features spiritual, cultural, intellectual, educational, youth and environmental topics.

Chanted by the Seminarians of Saint Paul’ Seminary Harissa, Lebanon

Meets with the President of the Lebanese University Professor Bassam Badran

Discussions Centered on Prospects for Cooperation

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, accompanied by Professor Laure Abi Khalil, Coordinator of the MECC Programs for Dialogue, Social Cohesion and the Restoration of Human Dignity, met with the President of the Lebanese University Professor Bassam Badran. The meeting was attended by Dean Professor Marlene Haidar, Dean Professor Habib Kazzi, Professor Ali Rammal, Professor Hassan Zein El-Dine, and Professor Nadim Mansoury.

The meeting focused on ways to strengthen cooperation between the Middle East Council of Churches and the Lebanese University, as well as on developing partnership opportunities between the two institutions in the academic, research, cultural, and social fields.

During the meeting, Professor Abs presented an overview about the history of the Middle East Council of Churches and the circumstances surrounding its establishment, highlighting the major milestones that have shaped its work over the past five decades. He also outlined its mission and role in promoting dialogue, mutual understanding, and social cohesion, as well as in serving people and safeguarding their dignity in the societies of the region.

Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt

Organized by the Middle East Council of Churches

Interview with Professor Laure Abi Khalil; Prepared and Presented by the Journalist Lea Adel Maamary

The Armenian Relief Cross Association – Lebanon

Produced By MECC

“Momentum”

11-9-2026

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 "Water for Life". It is the word he delivered at the MECC Celebration for the “Season of Creation”, on Sunday 6 September 2026, at the National Evangelical Church of Beirut.

You can check the issue via the following link: https://mailchi.mp/41b112cd3fee/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.

Chanted by the Seminarians of Saint Paul’ Seminary Harissa, Lebanon

Address by the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches
Professor Michel Abs
at the Celebration of the Season of Creation

Sunday, September 6, 2026
National Evangelical Church of Beirut

Your Eminences and Reverend Fathers,

Your Eminences and distinguished religious leaders,

Dear sisters and brothers,

We gather today at the National Evangelical Church of Beirut to inaugurate together the Season of Creation, this time during which the Church invites us to reconsider our relationship with creation—not merely as the material setting in which we live, but as a gift from God and a trust placed in our hands by the Creator, so that we may use it wisely, preserve it, and pass it on to generations yet unborn.

At the heart of our reflection this year stands water—that substance which appears so simple, yet is so profound in meaning, and without which life cannot exist.

But before speaking about water, we must stand in reverence before the majesty of the Creator and the greatness of the very act of creation. Creation is not merely the shaping of what already exists. In the understanding of faith, it is the passage from nothingness into existence. That something should exist where previously there was nothing, and that life, order, beauty, and diversity should emerge, is a mystery beyond the human capacity fully to comprehend or grasp. When we contemplate creation, from the smallest cell to the vastest ocean, we are not simply contemplating silent matter; we stand before the traces of a divine act that brought existence out of nothingness and endowed life with the capacity to continue and renew itself…

Discussions Focus on Strengthening Future Partnership

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, welcomed, on Wednesday 9 September 2026, a delegation from Kerk in Actie (KIA), including Mr. Dick Loendersloot, the new KiA's Humanitarian Representative for the Africa Region, and Mrs. Kirsten Kok, the new KiA's Humanitarian Representative for the MENA Region. They also visited the Council on Friday, September 11, 2026, at the MECC General Secretariat offices in Beirut.

The visit aimed to strengthen the existing partnership between KIA and the MECC. The delegation met with the Secretary General Professor Michel Abs, in addition to holding meetings with many colleagues from the MECC various departments. The visit also provided an opportunity to meet Mrs. Kirsten Kok, who has recently assumed her new responsibility, succeeding Mr. Dick Loendersloot.