A Mass and Requiem for Gabriel Gergi Habib

Dr. Michel Abs: Gabi Habib was able to promote MECC to a prominent international status and became, as Secretary-General, a distinguished symbol in the ecumenical world forums

On the Forty days’ memory of Late Gabriel Gergi Habib, the former Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches, a Mass and Requiem were made for him on Sunday 23 October 2022, at the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Downtown Beirut, with the participation of his family and their relatives, as well as the MECC family, represented by the Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs.

At the end of the Requiem, Dr. Abs delivered a speech entitled “Gabi Habib, a journey of faith and struggle”, in which he remembered Habib, as Secretary General, colleague and friend, praising his ecclesiastical and professional career and his dedication to serving the ecumenical movement and its development.

In the following, you can find the full speech of Dr. Abs.  

Gabi Habib, a journey of faith and struggle

Dr. Michel E. Abs

Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches

Whoever contemplates Gabi Habib's ecclesiastical and professional career, which are inseparable to him, can see the type of the person who decided to enter a race with events and time.

He culminated his career, which lasted for decades, between the Orthodox Youth Movement, Syndesmos, the World Student Christian Federation and other organizations, culminated by him assuming the responsibility of the General Secretariat of the Middle East Council of Churches, where I have known and worked with him for nearly nine years.

Gabi was the model of the apostolic person, who dedicated and sacrificed himself for this mission.

I could see him in his office from dawn to dusk, working for long hours, tirelessly and without boredom, moving from a task to another, trying to respond to anyone asking him for a service, information or advice.

Gabi had a vision that determined the course of his faith, family and professional life, and all his focus, attention and activity were centered around this vision, drawing strength from the Master who incarnated for us and from His Crucifixion and Resurrection.

Gabi was a Christian with deep faith, living his Christianity in his daily life, which culminated the day he forgave to those who kidnapped and assassinated his father. Forgiveness was his only and unequivocal position... Forgiveness for them, whoever they are.

Gabi's deep Christian faith did not turn him into a closed or fanatic person. On the contrary, he was very open to everyone, which made him one of the founders of the National Islamic-Christian Dialogue Committee, which played an important role in maintaining civil peace in Lebanon.

Gabi's deep Lebanese affiliation did not make him an isolated person from the Arab and humanitarian issues. Defending the Palestinian cause as a Lebanese was a rare model, especially during the Lebanese war, when the Palestinians were demonized and rejected.

Gabi's faith orientation did not make him a person detached from the world issues, as he implemented and achieved during his mandate at the Middle East Council of Churches a massive development humanitarian services and projects.

Gabi Habib has proven that he not only has a solid Christian faith which is not shaken by all trials, but also has a high level of professionalism and know-how.

He was able to deal with political and international relations, human rights, management and publications, as well as relief and development, as if he were a specialist in each field, due to the scope of his culture and his grasp and openness to any new trends.

Through our joint work, I realized how much this person has the capacity for renewal and innovation, as he was always creating new ideas, orientations and projects. His courage helped him to do everything he aimed at, as he never backed down in front of a matter, especially if it benefits humankind and the Church. Moving ahead characterized his personality. In everything he was doing, he moved confidently but without underestimating the importance and gravity of the challenges he had to face and the difficulties, even obstacles, he had to overcome.

On the intellectual level, Gabi was resourceful, highly analytical and with a high capacity of synthesis; he was endowed with quick intelligence and flexibility that allowed him to deal with emerging situations no matter what they are and wherever they occurred, whether at the societal level in general or even during a business meeting.

The nine years during which we worked together were full of problems and difficulties due to the security, political and economic circumstances in Lebanon at that time. The volume of our work in the Relief and Development Department in Lebanon was substantial, which was reflected on our professional relationship and made it cohesive despite some difficulties. We always found solutions to preserve the work going. Respect and trust were mutual, and cordiality between us continued even after I left the Council and returned to teaching at the university. There he used to visit me whenever he came to Lebanon and on one day he asked me my authorization to recommend me to replace him in the Christian-Muslim National Dialogue Committee. And this is what happened.

The dedication which Gabi has shown during the seventeen years of his leadership of the Council was exemplary. He was able to promote the Council to a prominent international status and became, as Secretary-General, a distinguished symbol in the ecumenical world forums. His position and statements had distinctive and indisputable impact.

Since the beginning of my service at MECC two years ago, Gabi sent me reports on his work at the Council. I asked his permission to publish these reports, but he told me that it was not necessary and told me to "do whatever I want with them." I did not publish them as they reached me, and I will coordinate with his family later-on how to deal with these documents. I wished to discuss the matter with him if he would have accepted my invitation to attend the Twelfth General Assembly of the MECC which was held last May in Egypt, but illness prevented him from that. He sent us a video which left a sweet impression with the audience who knew and cherished him.

Today, after Gabi left us and we are praying his requiem, I can say to him: You have honored your faith and deserved the talents. Rest in peace, the ecumenical work in the land of Christ is still moving forward despite the bumps, obstacles and difficulties, and the Church of Christ, the One Church, remains witnessing to salvation.

Christ is risen!