On the occasion of the 50-Year Golden Jubilee of His Priesthood

The Middle East Council of Churches, on behalf of its Presidents, the members of its Executive Committee, its Secretary General, its Associate Secretaries General and its team, extends its warmest congratulations to His Beatitude Patriarch Youssef Al-Absi, Greek Melkite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, on the occasion of the 50-Year Golden Jubilee of his Priesthood. MECC wishes him blessed years full of witness and holiness.

The Middle East Council of Churches also raises its Prayers, asking God to grant His Beatitude Patriarch Al-Absi health and determination in his Pastoral mission as a father and faithful servant of the Church of Christ.

In the new issue of the weekly newsletter Momentum issued by the Middle East Council of Churches, Communication and Public Relations Department, MECC on behalf of its Presidents, the members of its Executive Committee, its Secretary General, its Associate Secretaries General and its team, extends its warmest congratulations to His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos of the Armenian Catholic Church of Cilicia, and MECC President for the Catholic Family, on the occasion of the 50-Year Golden Jubilee of his Priesthood. As for the weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, it is entitled “Religion: Its Position and Role in Organizing Life and Society”, in which he talked about the religious phenomenon from the sociological point of view in the modern world.

In sociology, there is no phenomenon more difficult to define than the religious phenomenon, given the historical path in which it has followed, and given the diversity and ramifications of existing religious sects, especially as they deal with the field of the sacred, as well as with the Creator to whom everything is attributed, from eternity to eternity.

Since humanity had begun to ponder over natural and life phenomena, it began to develop anxieties based on the experiences it lived and stored in its memory, so it entered the tunnel of insecurity, a fact which resulted  in creating  a state of constant search for an enduring safety that has lasted up till our day and age.

The first human being was frightened by natural phenomena as well as by prevailing human practices to deal with them alike. This resulted in the search  for figuring out  the best means to safeguard and immunize oneself against them and suggested beliefs and myths in an attempt to understand that which was prevailing so as to find a way for protection from events or from their consequences. So it was that totemic beliefs and beliefs of reincarnation came to appear as myths that developed into paganism as time went on and with which humanity settled for long periods of time until the emergence of what was termed as monotheistic religions.

On the occasion of the 50-Year Golden Jubilee of His Priesthood

The Middle East Council of Churches, on behalf of its Presidents, the members of its Executive Committee, its Secretary General and its team, extends its warmest congratulations to His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos of the Armenian Catholic Church of Cilicia, and MECC President for the Catholic Family, on the occasion of the 50-Year Golden Jubilee of his Priesthood. MECC wishes His Beatitude many years full of accomplishments, blessings and holiness.

The Middle East Council of Churches also wishes to His Beatitude Patriarch Minassian health and success in his Pastoral mission as a faithful father and shepherd of the Church of Christ, asking God to bless his service through his testimony to Jesus Christ and his journey in the Vineyard of the Lord.

Quotes and Reflections from His Holiness Pope Tawadros II and His Holiness Pope Francis

The Holy Family's journey to the land of Egypt assures us that the Divine Provision transcends everything and that God’s Divine Power transforms hardships into accomplishments, as the journey has become the source of many blessings extending to this day. Hence, the video presents some quotes and reflections about the entry of the Holy Family into Egypt from His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, and from the Pope of the Vatican, His Holiness Pope Francis.

The Middle East Council of Churches, Communication and Public Relations Department, have now issued its online Ecumenical calendar for the month of July 2023. It includes the Ecclesiastical and Liturgical feasts of the various families of Churches in the Middle East. In addition to international days identified by the United Nations, and which are related to the MECC identity and its spiritual and human mission.

An Article by His Eminence Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, MECC Honorary President

His Eminence Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches, participated as a speaker at a symposium on Christians in the Middle East, on Monday 12 June 2023, at the Tapiola Church, Espoo, Finland.

During the symposium, His Eminence delivered a speech via an article he wrote under the title "The Future of Christianity in the Middle East", in which he spoke about the role of Arab Palestinian Christians, highlighting the reasons of Christians’ emigration in addition to the challenges they face and how to support them in light of the situations they are passing through.

Below you can find the full article.

An Article in Arabic by Dr. Gergis Saleh, MECC Honorary Secretary General

As part of highlighting the Holy Family's journey to Egypt, you can find an article entitled “The Coptic Church in the Old Testament”, written by Dr. Gergis Saleh, Honorary Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches, in which he explains who the Copts are, talking about how Egypt was mentioned in the Bible, in addition to some of the prophecies from the Coptic Church in the Old Testament. Hence, Dr. Saleh presents in his article a historical overview of the path of the Holy Family and its entry into the land of Egypt.

You can find the full article in Arabic.

In the new issue of the weekly newsletter Momentum issued by the Middle East Council of Churches, Communication and Public Relations Department, MECC presents in cooperation with the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Institute of Coptic Studies, a video in which Dr. Isaac Ibrahim Ajban, Dean of the Institute of Coptic Studies, explains the journey of the Holy Family in the Land of Egypt in terms of spiritual blessings, human values, and cultural influences it presents. As for the weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, it is entitled “Between the Alterations of Modernity and Family Disintegration”, in which he talked about the disruption that societies and families are facing amidst modernity, globalization and materials presented by media. He also highlighted the MECC mission in defending human rights and preserving their dignity, as well as on the Council’s work in implementing awareness and advocacy programs.

The moment I received a tape of an exhibition of satanic drawings and images in the European Parliament last month, my first reaction upon viewing the tape was disgust. My reaction was that of an ordinary person who sees what disturbs sight, conscience and soul.

I gathered the curiosity and courage of the researcher and the social activist, and went back through this book of misery, two, three, four and more times, and analyzed these pictures and drawings until I ended up on the shore of sadness and pity.

"Media and Stereotyping the Other"

Thursday 29 June 2023 - 7:00 pm

The Middle East Council of Churches has the honor to invite you to participate in its new monthly webinar, entitled "Media and Stereotyping the Other", on Thursday 29 June 2023, at 7:00 pm.

You can participate in the webinar via the following Zoom link https://tinyurl.com/8cm7xzef, and live on the MECC Facebook page.

A Seminar Organized by the Lebanese Council of Women and the Research Center - Institute of Social Sciences at the Lebanese University, with the participation of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers

The MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs:

The family is a red line, because the safety of society is a red line, and we consider whoever tries to harm this basic cell, guilty of social crime

Under the auspices of His Excellency the Lebanese Minister of Labor Dr. Moustafa Bayram, the Lebanese Council of Women launched the Family Protection Campaign, and organized, in cooperation with the Research Center - Institute of Social Sciences at the Lebanese University, and with the participation of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL), a seminar entitled "Challenges Facing Family Values". It was held on Tuesday 20 June 2023, at the headquarters of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers, in Beirut.

A Blessing for the Country and a Source of Spiritual and Human Values

Quotes and Reflections from His Holiness Pope Tawadros II and His Holiness Pope Francis

To Egypt, the Holy Family came, walked on its land and found a safe shelter after a journey full of hardships and difficulties, escaping from King Herod. A Church event that reminds us of a humanitarian issue that the world has been suffering from since decades as a result of wars, conflicts and crises... It is the issue of refugees that many families have been forced into in order to search for safety and stability. The journey of the Holy Family to Egypt has become an integral part of the history of the Nile’s country, as the Coptic Church has been celebrating it since the first century AD.

Spiritual Blessings, Human Values and Cultural Influences

The Middle East Council of Churches, Communication and Public Relations Department, continues the series of explanations that it had started about the Feast of the Entry of the Holy Family into the Land of Egypt, as it carries many spiritual, social and cultural meanings and connotations...

In this context, the Middle East Council of Churches, in cooperation with the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Institute of Coptic Studies, presents a new video in which Dr. Isaac Ibrahim Ajban, Dean of the Institute of Coptic Studies, explains the journey of the Holy Family in the Land of Egypt in terms of spiritual blessings, human values, and cultural influences it presents.

"Challenges Facing Family Values"

At the invitation of the Lebanese Council of Women and the Research Center - Institute of Social Sciences at the Lebanese University

With the participation of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers

Under the auspices of His Excellency the Lebanese Minister of Labor Dr. Moustafa Bayram, the Lebanese Council of Women launches the Family Protection Campaign. The Council and the Research Center - Institute of Social Sciences at the Lebanese University, with the participation of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL), have the honor to invite you to attend a seminar entitled "Challenges Facing Family Values", in which the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Professor Michel Abs will participate as a speaker. It will be held on Tuesday 20 June 2023, at 5 pm Beirut Time, in the headquarters of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers - Corniche Al Nahr - Beirut.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5: 4)

“To forget is to bury the truth, but to commemorate is to learn and avoid the repetition of the genocide” (His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II)

Much of what is published on social networking pages, and in the media in general, shows how widespread and increasingly dominant hate speech is in people's minds.

We read, hear, and see in the media words, pictures, and graphic scenes that offend racial, ethnic, religious, national, political, or other form of belonging and identity, as an attempt is made to focus on the characteristics of a given target group with hate speech, trying to demonize it, and present it to the viewer or reader in the most horrible way.

From the Coptic Orthodox Holy Sophia University at the USA

Under the auspices of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark and the President of Coptic Orthodox Holy Sophia University at the United States of America, and His Grace Bishop David, Bishop of the Diocese of New York and New England and the Vice President of the University, Mr. Gergis Ibrahim Saleh, Honorary Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches, was granted the degree of Honorary Doctorate in Biblical Studies, on Tuesday 13 June 2023, in a ceremony held at the Papal Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

As part of capacities’ improvement and life skill’s development, the Middle East Council of Churches, Service and Relief – Diakonia Department, Jordan Office, with the support of the international organization ACT Alliance, ACT JOR231, and in cooperation with the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in Amman, implemented two courses to enhance livelihoods. A first course was organized in Amman on elderly companion care, and a second course in Madaba about sewing art. These two courses ended with a graduation ceremony for all participants.