Survivors in Syria Remember the Most Difficult Moments

Almost three months have passed since the catastrophic earthquake that struck the North of the Antiochian Levant on 6 February 2023, the Syrian people are still suffering from its tragic repercussions that weight heavily on their shoulders and cast a shadow over the country. Therefore, the wounds of the Syrian people are still not healed, and the humanitarian need is still increasing on many levels.

In the video, some of the earthquake survivors describe the bitter first moments and difficult circumstances they passed through following the disaster. The video also presents footages from the heart of the tragedy in Syria.

In the new issue of the weekly newsletter Momentum issued by the Middle East Council of Churches, Communication and Public Relations Department, you can find a message via video delivered by His Eminence Metropolitan Silouan Moussi, Greek Orthodox Bishop of Byblos, Batroun and Dependencies (Mount Lebanon), during the seminar organized by MECC on the 10th yearly commemoration of the abduction of the Archbishops of Aleppo, under the title “The Issue of the Abducted and Forcibly Absented, Violation of Human Dignity”, on Monday 24 April 2023. As for the weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, it is entitled “Freedom of the press and the martyrs of the word”. Dr. Abs talked about the World Press Freedom Day, which the world celebrates on 3 May of each year, describing the positive impact of the "word" and the repercussions resulting from it.

The issue also presents a news and photos about the reception of the Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs for a delegation of German tourists and pilgrims at the offices of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut, on Thursday 27 April 2023.

As well as, you can find a news about the election of Reverend Rifaat Fikry for a second term as President of the Dialogue Council of the Evangelical Synod of the Nile, in addition to his biography.

Today, the third of May, is the World Press Freedom Day as declared by the United Nations in 1993, which means that this year is the thirtieth anniversary of the launch of this declaration.

The United Nations considers, on its page dedicated to this occasion, that, during the three decades that have passed since the declaration in 1993, progress has been made "in the field of enabling a free press and freedom of expression in all parts of the world", especially that technological development has contributed and supported this trend towards freedoms. However, the United Nations considers that "media freedom, the safety of journalists and freedom of expression" are under "increasing attack, affecting the realization of other human rights".

On the same page, the United Nations underlines the social crises that afflict humanity and the injustice that is rampant in the world, and that this was accompanied by large waves of misinformation, which negatively affects democratic work.

Elsewhere on this specialized page, the United Nations stresses that journalism is a key for humanity to enjoy all other human rights.

Visiting Our Lady Dispensary Affiliated to MECC, in Beirut

Dr. Peter Makari, the Global Relations Minister of the Middle East and Europe Global Ministries humanitarian organization, which is a partner of the Middle East Council of Churches, headed a delegation from the organization on a visit to Our Lady dispensary affiliated to MECC and located in the Sabtieh region, Lebanon, on Friday 21 April 2023. The delegation was received by the Coordinator of the Lebanon’s Office of the Service and Relief - Diakonia Department Mrs. Nina Hallak, and the dispensary team.

The Global Ministries delegation, included along with Dr. Makari,

Reverend Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens, General Minister and President,

Reverend Marco Cable, President, Division of Overseas Ministries; Co-Executive, Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ,

On Tuesday 25 April 2023, the Evangelical Synod of the Nile elected Reverend Rifaat Fikry, the Associate Secretary General at of the Middle East Council of Churches, as President of the Dialogue Council for a second term, starting from 2023 and ending in 2027.

Reverend Rifaat Fikry Said, was born on 20/6/1969

He received a bachelor degree in Theological Sciences from the Evangelical College of Theology in 1994, and a bachelor degree in Media from Cairo University in 2004.

He will soon present his master’s thesis at the Institute of African Studies and Research - Cairo University - Department of Politics and Economics, under the title “The Theology of Liberation and its Impact on the Liberation of South Africa”.

His Eminence Metropolitan Silouan Moussi, Greek Orthodox Bishop of Byblos, Batroun and Dependencies (Mount Lebanon), delivered a message via video during the seminar organized by the Middle East Council of Churches on the 10th yearly commemoration of the abduction of the Archbishops of Aleppo, His Eminence Archbishop Boulos Yaziji and His Eminence Archbishop Gregorius Youhanna Ibrahim, under the title “The Issue of the Abducted and Forcibly Absented, Violation of Human Dignity”, on Monday 24 April 2023.

As part of its religious tour in Lebanon, a delegation of German tourists visited the offices of the Middle East Council of Churches’ General Secretariat in Beirut, on Thursday 27 April 2023. The delegation was received by the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, along with the Associate Secretary General Mrs. Seta Hadeshian, and the Programming Assistant at the Theological and Ecumenical Department Mrs. Rima Saleh.

Report: April 27th, 2023

The Middle East Council of Churches is being involved in the relief and rehabilitation efforts in Syria under the name of "Rescue Syria Campaign" through which the Council shall be dealing with the relief efforts in this emergency period and later on with rehabilitation plans in order to help people survive properly and resume a normal life with dignity.

MECC will be publishing a periodical report under the name of "Rescue Syria Update" which will keep you informed about the developments of MECC action as well as the overall situation in a context analysis perspective. 

In the new issue of the weekly newsletter Momentum issued by the Middle East Council of Churches, Communication and Public Relations Department, you can find the joint statement issued by the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox Patriarchates of Antioch and All the East on the 10th yearly commemoration of the abduction of the Archbishops of Aleppo, His Eminence Metropolitan Boulos Yaziji and His Eminence Metropolitan Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim. As for the weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, it is entitled “Behind the Screen of Hate”. It was the speech that Dr. Abs delivered at the seminar organized by MECC, on the commemoration of the abduction of the two Archbishops of Aleppo, on Monday 24 April 2023.

The faces of loved ones disappeared, vanished in time and place, in circumstances that we do not know, and for reasons that, in most cases, are mysterious to us.

Disappearance, abduction, forced absence, call the phenomenon whatever you like, but the action is the same, the actor is the same, and the results are close, or the same.

Thus, quite simply, a person is among his family and loved ones, and suddenly he is not there anymore.

He becomes a remembrance, anguish, longing, anticipation, and even waiting, feelings known to those who suffer in vain.

When a person is immersed in activities of a conflictual nature, he must not rule out a fate of this kind, abduction or enforced disappearance. But why should a person who did not indulge in this fray reach such a fate?

Is it the collateral damage of the conflicts of rival, contradictory, disparate groups?

Collateral damage! How easy and painful at the same time is  this expression!

Organized by Saint Joseph University in Beirut

Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs: MECC is a place of Christian togetherness, as it aims to build bridges between the various Church families and all components of the society

The Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut organized a forum on citizenship and NGO under the title "Advocating for a Better Tomorrow", with the participation of the Middle East Council of Churches along with more than 60 NGOs. The forum was held on Wednesday 26 April 2023, in the Human Sciences Campus (CSH) and Medical Sciences Campus (CSM).

The Middle East Council of Churches, Communication and Public Relations Department, have now issued its online Ecumenical calendar for the month of May 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.

A Lecture Organized by the Near East School of Theology

4 May 2023, 5:30 pm – at the School’s Campus, Hamra, Beirut

The Near East School of Theology in Beirut invites you to a public lecture entitled “What Does Climate Change Have to Do with the Christian Faith?”, delivered by Clive Pearson, Senior Research Fellow in Public Theology at Charles Stuart University, Former Principle of United Theological College in Sydney and Head of the School of Theology. It will be held on 4 May 2023, at 5:30 pm, in the campus of the Near East School of Theology, Sourati Street (off Jeanne D’Arc), Hamra, Beirut.