Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs on a Visit to Egypt
From November 28 to December 5
On a Mission to Prepare for the 12th General Assembly of the Council, Hosted by Pope Tawadros II
This report is also available in Arabic.
Press release
Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs visited Egypt from November 28 to December 5, 2021, on a special mission to prepare for the General Assembly of the Council to be held between May 16 and 20, 2022 under the kind hospitality of His Holiness Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark Pope Tawadros II at the Papal Logos Center in Wadi El Natrun.
The Secretary General was accompanied from Beirut by the Head of the Communication and Public Relations Department, Mrs. Huguette Salameh, and from Egypt, by the Honorary Secretary General Dr. Gerges Saleh and the Associate Secretary General of the Council Rev. Rifaat Fikri.
The visit started off with a meeting with His Holiness Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark Pope Tawadros II at the Papal Headquarters in Cairo, on Sunday, November 27, 2021. After asking for the Pope’s blessing, Dr. Abs thanked him for the generous initiative to host the 12th General Assembly of the Middle East Council of Churches at the Papal Logos Center in Wadi El Natrun between May 16 and 19, 2022.
During the visit, the details of the preparations for this major event that brings together the Eastern Churches every 4 years were discussed with His Holiness who expressed his joy for Egypt to host this event for the first time since the Council was established in 1974, especially since the Egyptian Coptic Church is one of the founders of the Council and the Ecumenical movement in the Middle East. His Holiness gave his recommendations to support the General Secretariat of the Council in all preparations and provide the necessary for the event’s success through the grace of the Holy Spirit.
The Secretary General and the accompanying delegation participated in the festive mass held by His Beatitude Mor Ignatius Youssef III Younan, Syriac Patriarch of Antioch, on the occasion of the visit of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, in Al Zaher, Cairo. Then, a meeting was held in the presence of His Beatitude Anba Ibrahim Ishaq, Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria, the Papal Ambassador to Egypt Monsignor Nicolas Thévenin, Archbishop of Baghdad and Patriarchal Administrator of the Diocese of Mosul and its Dependencies Mar Ephrem Youssef Aba, Patriarchal Vicar in Basra and the Arab Gulf Mor Athanasius Firas Dardar, Patriarch of the Maronite Church in Egypt His Eminence Msgr. George Chihan, Vicar Apostolic of Alexandria in Egypt Monsignor Claudio Lurati, former Bishop of Ismailia for Coptic Catholics Anba Makarios Toufik, and social activists who attended the meeting.
On Monday November 29, Dr. Abs paid a visit to the President of the Evangelical Church Rev. Dr. Andrea Zaki at the headquarters of the Evangelical Community in Cairo, and after acquaintances were made, Zaki renewed his support for the Council, he said: “We renew our pledge to strengthen unity among Churches, which means a lot to us in serving the people of the Church in Egypt and the Middle East. We believe in our role in working to build the spirit of love and peace by word and deed.” Rev. Zaki also offered all the capabilities of the Community at the Council's disposal as a contribution from the Evangelical Church to the success of the expected General Assembly in May 2022.
Afterwards, the Secretary General and the accompanying delegation met with the Archbishop of Alexandria for the Anglican Episcopal Church Dr. Sami Fawzi at the All Saints Cathedral in Zamalek, in the presence of his assistant Bishop Anthony Ball.
After a warm welcome, Archbishop Fawzi affirmed the Episcopal Church's desire to participate in the Council's activities that support relations between different Christian communities in the East. He expressed his appreciation for the challenges facing the Council in building bridges between churches and in promoting dialogue, and peace in the East.
On Tuesday, the Secretary General, along with the delegation, visited the Bishop of Services in the Coptic Orthodox Church Anba Julius in Mary Gerges - Old Egypt. He then met with the students of the Institute of Theological Studies at the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate where he gave a lecture about the Ecumenical work in the Middle East.
On the morning of Wednesday December 1, 2021, His Beatitude Pope Theodros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa for the Greek Orthodox, received at the Patriarchal Residence in Alexandria, Dr. Abs, and the accompanying delegation in the presence of Metropolitan Narkissos of Naykratidos and member of the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches. The Secretary General laid before His Beatitude the details of the preparations for the upcoming General Assembly along with a briefing of the role of the growing Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria in Africa, and the humanitarian and religious work it undertakes in the forgotten continent, especially the recent missionary trips made by His Beatitude to Uganda, Tanzania, and South Africa.
Then Dr. Michel Abs visited the Secretary General of the Council of Churches in Egypt Father Nicolas Zarawi at the headquarters of the Orthodox Patriarchate - St. George Monastery in Old Egypt. The discussions were about the Council's activity and the possibility of integration between the national Council in Egypt and the regional Middle East Council of Churches.
Thursday a visit was planned to the Papal Logos Center in the monastery of Saint Bishoy in Wadi El Natrun, where the logistical preparations the participants in the General Assembly would need were discussed with the director of the Center Engineer Rafik Morcos, and Father Kyrillos, secretary of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II.
To complement his visits, Dr. Abs met on Friday with His Eminence Msgr. George Chihan Bishop of Egypt and Sudan at the headquarters of the Maronite Archdiocese in Heliopolis and a meeting with. Then Dr. Abs met with Sheikh Muhammad Abu Zaid Al Amir, Vice President of Al Azhar University and General Coordinator of the Egyptian Family House in the office of the Honorary Secretary General of the Council Dr. Gerges Saleh, Rapporteur of the Emergency Executive Committee in the Family House. The meeting discussed the necessity of strengthening Christian-Islamic dialogue in light of the experience of the Family House headed by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb.
Afterwards, both of them met with the General Bishop and Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center Anba Jeremiah, where a lengthy talk took place about ways to enhance interfaith dialogue and the role of the Middle East Council of Churches in building bridges and networking between the Churches of the East. Anba Jeremiah also stressed the role of young people in Eastern Churches and the necessity of restoring the spirit to the communities suffering from the emigration of young people.
The fifth day ended with a meeting with Secretary General Dr. Abs and a group of Egyptian journalists from different media outlets. He answered their questions about the role of the Middle East Council of Churches amidst the difficult conditions the East is going through today, and the plans the Council is currently adopting to promote the Ecumenical spirit between Churches and interfaith dialogue, a priority with the intensification of fundamentalist currents in the region.
The tour in Egypt was concluded on Saturday with a visit to His Beatitude Patriarch Ibrahim Ishaq, Patriarch of Alexandria for the Coptic Catholics, at the patriarchal headquarters in Kobri el Kobba, in the presence of Anba Bakhoum, Patriarchal Vicar for the Patriarchal Diocese. A discussion was held with His Beatitude about the necessity and the procedure to stimulate the activity of the Middle East Council of Churches in Egypt. Then, Dr. Abs and the accompanying delegation visited Archbishop Nicolas Antonio, Metropolitan of Tanta, Patriarchal Vicar for Arabic Speakers, and member of the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches.
