A Symposium About “Challenges of Theological Education in the Middle East” at the Papal Residence - Cairo
The Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs Participating
Cairo, July 13, 2024
In our recent era, and amidst the unprecedented developments witnessed in the fields of technology, artificial intelligence, and the digital revolution, which constitutes a new challenge to the educational systems and learning in colleges and institutes in the world, the Deans of the Theological Colleges and Institutes in the Middle East – A.T.I.M.E., members of the Association, held a symposium at the New Papal Residence in Cairo, presided over by the Rt. Reverend Archimandrite Jack Khalil, Dean of the Saint John of Damascus Theological Institute at the University of Balamand, Lebanon, and President of A.T.I.M.E. It was hosted and attended by His Eminence Bishop Anba Michael, Bishop of Helwan and Al Masara and Vice Dean of the Seminary Institute - Bishop Anba Royce, delegated by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, Dr. Michel Abs, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), the Secretary General of the Egypt Council of Churches Reverend Yoshua Yacoub, representatives of the Churches in Egypt, the MECC Media Church Relations Coordinator the journalist Lea Adel Maamary, Professors, and student representatives.
Participants in this symposium spoke about “Challenges of Theological Education in the Middle East”; which included faith, cognitive, social, ethical and cultural challenges that require rethinking on how to prepare the next generation to be ready to face these changes. Each of the attendees presented their suggestions and strategies that confront these challenges and extend the bridge of communication and knowledge between all students in all their colleges.
For his part, Dr. Michel Abs, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), confirmed that:
“Our societies today are facing many and serious challenges that are being worsening, which requires quick intervention with the aim of developing clear strategies, because moral and social concepts have become affected by the digital revolution and the values of post-modern society, and this is what we fear if things worsen further.”
Everyone stressed the necessity of consolidating unity in difference, exchanging experiences and cultures, as well as working to confront this accelerating technological mechanism.
