Launch in a Press Conference the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” 2024

And Announce the Fiftieth Year of the MECC Founding and the Ecumenical Musical Event that Will Be Held in Beirut

At the invitation of His Eminence Archbishop Youssef Soueif, Maronite Archbishop of Tripoli and President of the Episcopal Committee for Ecumenical Relations at the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon, and on the occasion of the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” and the fiftieth year of the founding of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), the Catholic Information Center, in partnership with MECC, held a press conference on Tuesday 9 January 2024, at the Center’s headquarters in Beirut. During the conference, the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” 2024 was launched, in addition the program for the MECC Jubilee Year was presented, and the Ecumenical musical event that will be held for the occasion in Beirut, on Saturday 20 January 2024, was announced.

The MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs Participates in the Prayer

On the occasion of the blessed birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in place of its customary reception, the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East (UAECNE) held a Prayer Service on Saturday 6 January 2024, at the First Armenian Evangelical Church, Beirut. The Prayer was held on the intention of the Armenians of Artsakh and all Armenia, the Churches of Palestine and the entire Palestinian people, Lebanon, its government and people, and also for the sake of the countries and peoples of the Middle East and the world who suffer from wars, violence, displacement, deprivation, instability and injustice of every kind.

Participants were the Representative of the Ambassador to Armenian in Lebanon, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs, along with Armenian Evangelical Pastors and Parishioners. They all raised their Prayers with one heart and contrite spirit to the Almighty God, for the peace of the suffering world for which the Savior was born in Bethlehem.

Launching of Its Jubilee Year, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

And the Ecumenical Musical Event that Will Be Implemented in Beirut

With the launching of the fiftieth year of its founding, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) will participate in a press conference at the Catholic Media Center in Lebanon, on Tuesday 9 January 2024, at 11 a.m. Beirut time. During the conference, the launching of the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” 2024 will be announced, and bears this year the title “You shall love the Lord your God... and your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27). As well as, MECC will presents the program of its Jubilee Year (1974-2024), and announces the Ecumenical musical event that will be held for the occasion in Beirut, on Saturday 20 January 2024.

The conference includes many speeches that will be delivered by His Eminence Archbishop Youssef Soueif, President of the Episcopal Committee for Ecumenical Relations at the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon, Dr. Michel Abs, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches, Mr. Marc Merhej, the Organizer of the Ecumenical musical event, and Father Tanios Khalil, Dean of the Faculty of Religious and Theological Sciences at La Sagesse University in Lebanon.

Towards the Fifty-Year Jubilee of the MECC Founding

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs, heading a delegation from the Council, visited Reverend Dr. Paul Haidostian, President of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East, President of Haigazian University in Lebanon, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches for the Evangelical Family, on Friday 5 January 2023, at the Haigazian University’s campus.

The MECC delegation included the Associate Secretary General Mrs. Seta Hadeshian, the Director of the Lebanon’s Office at the MECC Diakonia and Social Service Department Ms. Nina Hallak, the Executive Assistant to the Secretary General Mrs. Caroline Haddad, and the MECC Human Resources Senior Officer Mrs. Roula Saliba.

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) seeks, through its various humanitarian, educational and social programs, to preserve human dignity and rights, in addition to standing by the weakest and neediest groups and amplifying the voice of the marginalized and oppressed people. In this context, the Middle East Council of Churches had launched a series of monthly seminars on various social issues, within the framework of the “Human Dignity Project” - “Dialogue and Social Cohesion-Social Capital Rehabilitation”.

A delegation from the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) visited His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, at the Patriarchal Edifice in Bkerke, Lebanon. The delegation included the Director of the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar, and the Coordinator of the Ecumenical Musical Event in which MECC will participate Mr. Marc Merhej.

The meeting was also attended by His Eminence Archbishop Youssef Soueif, Maronite Archbishop of Tripoli and President of the Episcopal Committee for Ecumenical Relations at the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon, and His Eminence Archbishop Antoine Bou Najem, Maronite Archbishop of Antelias.

In the new issue of the weekly newsletter Momentum issued by the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), Communication and Public Relations Department, you can find two editorials from the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs. The first one is entitled “Childhood, dignity and future challenges” and it was the speech he delivered at the seminar organized by MECC under the title “Protective Policies for Childhood Dignity”, on Thursday 28 December 2023. The second one is entitled “Ecumenical immunization of vulnerable areas... and the homeland”, and it was the speech he delivered at the Ecumenical Prayer held by Télé Lumière and Noursat, on the intention of peace in the South of Lebanon, at the Saint Maron Church – Bauchrieh, Lebanon.

1- Childhood, dignity and future challenges

2- Ecumenical immunization of vulnerable areas... and the homeland

Newborn children of unknown parents, school dropouts, street children, child labor, child abuse, child murder, child trafficking, and the list may be long, and if it indicates anything, it indicates the magnitude of the challenges and burdens placed on our countries and civil society to control and correct the state of childhood in our region.

Statistics indicate, at all levels, the presence of serious indicators that do not bode well for a promising future for our societies, coupled with projects, programs, activities, and institutions aimed at responding to the challenges before us.

What we aspire to may be a small part of what is required to secure an appropriate framework for a wide segment of our coming generations, knowing that if we secure this part, we will still be far from securing the requirements of producing adequate coming generations capable of taking upon themselves the future of a society and the aspirations of a nation.

In conjunction with Christmas, and amidst the harsh developments that the South of Lebanon is suffering from, causing harm to families and towns, and in light of fears of how the situation will evolve in the next stage, Télé Lumière-Noursat TV station held an Ecumenical Prayer lead by a group of Bishops and Priests from all Churches, on the intention of peace in the South of Lebanon, in Saint Maron Church – Bauchrieh.

Participants in the Prayer were also the General Manager of Télé Lumière and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Noursat Mr. Jack El Kallassi, and the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs, Télé Lumière - Noursat Family.

The Service began with a welcome speech addressed by the Director of Nour Al Chark Media Channel Marie-Therese Bacha Hnein, which was followed by some reflections delivered by their Eminences the Bishops and the Priests, reflecting love, peace, harmony, and the rejection of violence, fundamentalism, and extremism.

“You shall love the Lord your God... and your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27). With this Bible verse, the team of the General Secretariat of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) gathered in a Christmas Spiritual Retreat, held at the Near East School of Theology in Ras Beirut.

Participants in the Retreat were Reverend Dr. Paul Haidostian, President of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East, President of Haigazian University, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches for the Evangelical Family, Dr. George Sabra, President of the Near East School of theology in Beirut, Reverend Dr. Rima Nasrallah, Environmental Advisor at MECC, Dr. Michel Abs the MECC Secretary General, Father Antoine Al Ahmar, Director of the Theological and Ecumenical Department, and the teams of the General Secretariat of the Middle East Council of Churches and the Near East School of Theology.

Preparations for the Ecumenical Musical Event in 2024

A delegation from the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) visited His Beatitude Patriarch Mor Ignatius Youssef III Younan, Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, on Thursday 28 December 2023, at the headquarters of the Patriarchal See in Al Mathaf - Beirut. The delegation included the Director of the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar, and the Coordinator of the Ecumenical Musical Event that MECC will hold in 2024 Mr. Marc Merhej

The meeting was attended by His Eminence Bishop Mathias Charles Mrad, the Patriarchal Vicar of the Eparchy of Beirut, Monsignor Habib Mrad, the General Patriarchal Economus and Patriarchal Secretary, and Father Karim Kalash, the Assistant Secretary of the Patriarchate.

A Round Table Organized by the Middle East Council of Churches

Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs: The panorama of childhood in our country does not lead to contentment or reassurance, neither to the present nor to the future

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) held a round table entitled “Protective Policies for Childhood Dignity”, on Thursday 28 December 2023, with the participation of expert speakers from various fields and with the attendance of guests, specialists and interested people in the topic at hand, who participated at the headquarters of the MECC’s General Secretariat in Beirut, or online via Zoom.

The seminar was broadcasted live on the MECC Facebook page, and included two sessions and segments for discussions. It started with an opening and welcoming speech addressed by Dr. Laure Abi Khalil, in which she stressed the necessity of protecting children, preserving their rights and dignity, especially since many of them are exposed to all kinds of violations as a result of the crises we are passing through.

The “Initiatives” Program broadcasted on Voice of Van Radio, prepared and presented by the journalist Lea Adel Maamary, presents a special episode, which you can watch it in the video, on the occasion of Christmas, New Year and the International Day of Peace celebrated on the 1st of January every year.

The episode includes many messages and greetings in Arabic from Bethlehem, the South of Lebanon which suffers from war, and various Lebanese regions, addressed by Reverend Dr. Munther Isaac, Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, His Eminence Metropolitan Elias Kfoury, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Tyre, Sidon and Dependencies, His Eminence Archbishop Youssef Soueif, Archbishop of the Maronite Diocese of Tripoli, Judge Dr. Mouhammad Al Noukari, and Dr. Michel Abs, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches.

Wednesday 27 December 2023, at 4pm Beirut Time

Watch a speech that will be delivered by the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs, as part of the Ecumenical Prayer which will be held by Télé Lumière-Noursat TV station, on the intention of peace in the South of Lebanon, today Wednesday 27 December 2023, at 4pm Beirut Time, live from Saint Maron Church - Bauchrieh, Lebanon.

27 December 2023

Télé Lumière group is holding, today, an Ecumenical Prayer led by Clergy from all Churches on the intention of peace in the South of Lebanon.

It will be held at 4pm Beirut Time, in Saint Maron Church - Bauchrieh, Lebanon. You can also watch it live on Télé Lumière and Noursat TV station.

O God of peace, extend your right hand and make peace on earth, establish justice, protect the weak, and grant us, by your mercy, a better tomorrow.

Preparations for the MECC Fifty-Year Jubilee

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs, heading a delegation from MECC, visited His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Holy See of Cilicia, on Saturday 23 December 2023, at the headquarters of the Catholicosate in Antelias - Lebanon.

The MECC delegation included the MECC Associate Secretary General Mrs. Seta Hadeshian, the Director of the Theological and Ecumenical Department Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar, and the Coordinator of the Ecumenical Musical Event that MECC will hold in 2024 Mr. Marc Merhej.

The crime is the same and the victim is the same

Christmas Message 2023 from the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs

In this time of extermination of children, we shall begin our Christmas message, in the time of Advent, with verses from the Gospel that were said by the Incarnate Word.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a millstone was hung around his neck and that he was drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)

“Whenever you did any of these things to one of the least of these my brothers, you did them to me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Once again comes Christmas, the glorious birth of the Incarnated Lord, and our region is suffering under the weight of well-planned conspiracies, destruction, killing, and displacement, and our people are sinking more and more in their daily life and existential problems, and do not see an end to the dark tunnel into which the intrigues and loss of sovereignty, over the land and destiny, have led them.