The MECC Secretary-General Professor Michel Abs’ Speech at the Press Conference
Launching the "Face of Mary" Symposium
Professor Michel Abs
Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)
Welcome to Minbar Al Kalima (Platform of the Word), this heaven of dialogue launched by the Middle East Council of Churches months ago, from which we will be TV broadcasting starting Easter Monday, supported by Tele Lumiere-Noursat.
Welcome on the day of Saint Joseph, this greatest silent figure and distinctive symbol in the historical Christian scene.
Today, we gather, spiritual leaders, media representatives, and ecumenical bodies, to announce a joint symposium between the MECC and the Episcopal Committee for the Christian-Muslim Dialogue of the Assembly of the Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon, next Tuesday, March 25th, at the Syriac Catholic Church of the Annunciation in the Museum area, at 1:00 PM.
This symposium, titled "The Face of Mary", will feature interventions by women from the intellectual and developmental spheres, each with extensive experience in her field. I say women, as we wanted the interventions to be exclusively by women. Each will address Mary from her intellectual perspective and faith background, speaking to the people to say that society unites through women—a unity embodied in the face of Mary, who has garnered consensus across religions and the world, and after whom girls, shrines, churches, and monasteries are named.
The participating women are:
1. Professor Marlene Haidar, Dean of the Institute of Social Sciences at the Lebanese University. Her intervention: "The Lady of the World’s Women".
2. Dr. Nadine Abbas, Director of Louis Pouzet Center for the Study of Ancient and Medieval Civilizations at Saint Joseph University. Her intervention: "Mary as Model: Mother and Symbol".
3. Dr. Haifa Al-Imam, Editor-in-Chief of Wameed Fikr magazine. Her intervention: "The Annunciation Feast in Islamic History".
4. Dr. Manal Saeed, Advisor and Expert in Elderly Affairs. Her intervention: "Mary’s Face: A Path for Dialogue".
5. Professor Myrna Aboud Mzawak, Coordinator of the Women’s Pastoral Office – Bkerki. Her intervention: "Mary’s Face and the Message of Interactive Diversity".
The symposium will be moderated by colleague Lea Adel Maamari, Coordinator of Ecumenical and Media Relations at the Council. The organization of the symposium was assisted by Professor Laure Abi Khalil, Coordinator of Dialogue and Human Dignity Programs at the MECC.
The only two non-female voices in the symposium will be: His Eminence Bishop Matthias Charles Murad, and myself, due to our roles.
It is worth noting that the event will include reports, life testimonies, and religious hymns performed by Ms. Jessie Jleilati.
Since the occasion calls for it, I must remind that the Annunciation Feast was declared a national day at the request of the Islamic Christian National Dialogue Committee and approved by the Prime Minister’s office, which later designated it a national holiday. Salutations to all who contributed to crystallizing this occasion and making it unifying on the socio-cultural level, despite religious differences. The mother unites.
In conclusion, I wish to inform followers that this symposium is a blessed milestone in a journey launched by the Middle East Council of Churches on last year’s Annunciation Feast under the theme "Shared Religious Paths in the Antiochian Levant and the Middle East". This initiative aims to highlight commonalities among the people of our nation at the religious-social level, seeking to expand shared ground, reconcile hearts, reject division, and curb hate speech that occasionally rears its head, threatening civil peace, and perhaps global peace, which suffers no shortage of civilizational wars.
Welcome, dear attendees, who care for unity, harmony, and bringing hearts closer. For He taught us in His Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God."