The German Catholic Bishops’ Conference delegation visiting MECC

A delegation from the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference headed by Dr. Udo Bentz, chairman of the Middle and Near East Working Group, has visited the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). The delegation included Dr. Daniel Legutke, Secretary of the Working Group, and Mr. Nadim Amman, one of the Group’s members.

Dr Souraya Bechealany, MECC Secretary General, has accompanied the delegation during its visit. They first met with His Eminence Archbishop Paul Sayyah, a member of MECC Executive Committee. They also visited His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Cilicia.

In addition, the delegation met with Fr. Pierre Najm, President of Notre-Dame University (NDU) and some of the university’s students. The delegation members then got to know more about “Kairos ME: Towards Churches Global Compact”, which was launched by MECC one year ago. This project was presented by Fr. Gabriel Hachem, director of the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department, Fr. Raphael Zgheib, the project coordinator, and Mr. Ziad Sayegh, MECC Policies and Communication Advisor. At the end of the visit, the delegation met with the MECC Strategic Group who are also members of the MECC Executive Committee: RR Dr. Habib Badr, President of the Evangelical Family in MECC, as well as Archbishop Paul Sayah, Dr. Michel Abs and Dr. Jean Salmanian.

The aim of this visit that took place between February 12th and 14th, 2020, was to examine the challenges faced by the Middle East and particularly the Middle East Council of Churches, as well as those facing the German Churches, in order to discuss future cooperation between the two parties.