The MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs Meets the Participants
of the Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling Program
for Parishes’ Ministers and their Associates in Kafra, Lebanon:
Strengthening the Spiritual and Psychological Accompaniment is Needed Amidst the Various Crises
The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs, visited, on Thursday 16 February 2023, the participants of the second phase of the Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling Program, which is being implemented by the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department, for Parishes’ ministers and their associates from the Middle Eastern countries, under the title of “Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile” (Mark 6: 31). The program is being held with the participation of 28 attendees from various Church Families, between Sunday 12 and Saturday 18 February 2023, at the St. Augustine Center in Kafra region, Lebanon.
During the visit, the Secretary General Dr. Abs participated in the session which was being held with the Superior General of the Congregation of the Lebanese Maronite Missionaries Father Maroun Moubarak. It was centered on the prevailing culture of authority in our Churches - conditions of participation and Synodality, as well as the rules of communication and listening in our Ecclesiastical societies. In light of this discussion, Dr. Abs expressed his view on the issue of authority in the Church with a perspective revolving around sociology and sciences of organization and administration.
Then, Dr. Abs held a session with the participants in which he presented a detailed overview of the Middle East Council of Churches and its mission, the Church Families that MECC includes, its regional expansion, as well as the services and programs it implements at many Ecumenical and humanitarian levels. Moreover, Dr. Abs discussed about the issue of Christian immigration from the region, its causes and repercussions.
In addition, the Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs emphasized the importance of the Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling Program’s role, stressing the need for spiritual and psychological accompaniment amidst the escalating crises that casts a shadow on the people of the Middle East who, as a result, are being exhausted. Furthermore, Dr. Abs highlighted the MECC relief work in Syria following the earthquake that struck the North of Antioch, in order to help and support the affected and afflicted people.
