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 MECC statement concerning the humanitarian crisis that Artsakh is suffering from since 8 months due to the blockade imposed by Azerbaijan on it. As for the weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, it is entitled “Asylum and marginalization under the scrutiny of justice and faith”. It was the speech that Dr. Abs delivered at the round table organized by the Middle East Council of Churches under the title "Human Dignity and Palestinian Refugees”, on Thursday 27 July 2023, at the headquarters of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut. The seminar is part of the series of monthly seminars launched by MECC, within the framework of the “Human Dignity Project” - “Dialogue and Social Cohesion-Social Capital Rehabilitation”.

The issue also includes a news about the evening of Prayer for Iraq and the beleaguered Chaldean Catholic Church at the invitation and organization of the Chaldean Eparchy of Beirut, on Saturday 13 August 2023, at the Cathedral of Archangel Raphael in Baabda - Brasilia, Lebanon. The Prayer was held under the auspices and with the presence of His Beatitude Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and with the Blessings of His Eminence Bishop Michel Kassarji, Head of the Chaldean Community in Lebanon.

This speech was delivered at the round table organized by the Middle East Council of Churches under the title "Human Dignity and Palestinian Refugees”, on Thursday 27 July 2023, at the headquarters of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut. The seminar is part of the series of monthly seminars launched by MECC, within the framework of the “Human Dignity Project” - “Dialogue and Social Cohesion-Social Capital Rehabilitation”

Living on a land and among people in a society that marginalizes you, thrusts you into poverty, extinguishes your hopes, and stifles your aspirations is the epitome of social euthanasia.

Ever since the hordes of colonizers set foot on the land of the Antiochian Levant and divided it into vulnerable entities through an earthly promise based on a so called divine one, the path has been the same: loss of civilization, social disintegration, displacement, asylum, and professional and economic marginalization. This leads to the loss of victims’ lives and their descent into the furnace of migration and misery.

“Human Dignity for Newborns of Unknown Parents”

31 August 2023 – 7 pm

The Middle East Council of Churches has the honor to invite you to participate in its new monthly webinar, entitled “Human Dignity for Newborns of Unknown Parents”, on Thursday 31 August 2023, at 7:00 pm.

You can participate in the webinar via the following Zoom link https://shorturl.at/djosI, and live on the MECC Facebook Page.

The webinar, which includes three interventions, will start with an opening speech by its moderator Dr. Chawki Attieh, which will be followed with a speech by the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs.

The family of the General Secretariat of the Middle East Council of Churches bids farewell to the colleague, the Financial Director Mrs. Manal Bechara Bou Habib, after a journey in the Ecumenical world that lasted for eight years of giving, dedication, and loyalty to the MECC mission. She was known for her service, love, and continuous support for all colleagues, partners, and friends.

The family of the MECC General Secretariat gathered around a farewell lunch to our colleague Manal, on Wednesday 16 August 2023. During the gathering, the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs offered to Manal an honorary trophy as a token of love and appreciation. He also addressed her with a speech in which he praised her competence, experience and performance, thanking her for her efforts and diligence, and wishing her success in her new journey.

The Department of Diakonia and Social Service, of the Middle East Council of Churches, Syria’s Office, organized health and psychosocial support sessions for women in reproductive age from Damascus, its countryside, and Dara’a Governorates. 

250 women from Damascus and its countryside, and 250 women from Dara’a participated in the 7 days sessions. These sessions were divided into 5 days of health awareness sessions during which the women were educated about the most prominent diseases in society, such as heart disease, osteoporosis, cholera, high blood pressure, diabetes discussing the underlying reasons, prevention methods and treatment in addition to the importance of following a healthy lifestyle. They also learned the proper way to use a blood pressure measurement device.

Strengthening Hope Despite all Challenges

Amidst the difficult living crises that cast a shadow over Lebanon, many families struggle to make ends meet and secure a source of income that enables them to face the daily challenges which are surrounding them. In light of this bitter reality, children are negatively and greatly affected by the socioeconomic pressures that their parents have to pass through. Sometimes, children are unconsciously abandoned and develop poor coping strategies to deal with this reality.

In this context, the Department of Diakonia and Social Service Department at the Middle East Council of Churches, Lebanon’s Office, in cooperation with the international humanitarian organization Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), organized, during July, new psychosocial support sessions with the aim of helping children overcome the difficulties that they may face in their daily lives.

Restoration of WASH Facilities in 7 Schools in Dara’a

School WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) facilities that are not properly equipped and do not meet health and cleanliness standards the fact that puts a threat to the physical and psychological well-being of the students. Such conditions facilitate the spread of diseases among them and can negatively impact the educational process. It may lead students, especially girls, to drop out of school.

Recognizing that every child deserves to live in a safe and clean environment, and acknowledging the importance of ensuring a healthy school environment for students, the Department of Diakonia and Social Service, at the Middle East Council of Churches, Syria’s Office, focused on restoring the WASH facilities in seven schools in the Dara’a Province.

FOR 8 MONTHS NOW!

A CALL TO STOP THE BLOCKADE!

For the second time, Azerbaijan has isolated Artsakh through a blockade, with the first blockade lasting three years (1989 - 1992).

Political and diplomatic developments are not able to pressure Azerbaijan to open the Latchin corridor for humanitarian assistance from the Republic of Armenia to Stepanakerd population (Artsakh known as the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh) in blockade since 12 December 2022, now for more than eight months!  The stories of children, women and the elderly suffering from blockade, lack of medication, food, electricity, gas and internet cut, do not reach the world to tell about the intentions of Azerbaijan to exterminate the Artsakhiots, the indigenous population, without any means of defense and survival. 

On the occasion of the Fifty Years of His Monasticism

The Middle East Council of Churches, Presidents, Executive Committee Members, and the General Secretariat, extends its warmest congratulations to His Beatitude Pope Theodoros II, Greek Orthodox Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, on the occasion of the fifty years of his monasticism, and wishes him many years of prosperity, blessings and holiness.

The Middle East Council of Churches also wishes His Beatitude good health and success in his Pastoral mission, and raises its Prayers to the Lord Jesus Christ to grant him determination in his service and Christian testimony.

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 weekly message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, which title is “Three years elapsed”, in commemoration of the 4 August Blast which massively destroyed the capital Beirut.

On this painful commemoration, you can find a video that presents the stories of some of investments’ owners whose businesses were damaged by the Blast, shedding light on the contribution of the Middle East Council of Churches, through the Department of Diakonia and Social Service in Lebanon, in rehabilitating many of these small businesses and investments in order to help their owners restore their sources of livelihood after they lost everything they owned.