Middle East Socioeconomic

Overview Report: April 2024

During this month, opposing forces escalated the magnitude of the armed conflict almost clashing with one another in a full-blown war. For the time being, diplomatic efforts have halted any further escalation but have failed to address the great divide between foes. Moreover, humanitarian conditions remain dire and are at risk of getting worse, knowingly an incursion into Rafah may occur sooner or later. Currently, diplomatic efforts are underway to stall the planned ground invasion by implementing a truce in Gaza. Yet, as always, nothing is guaranteed.

The Church should be a precocious warning voice for harmful trends that take place in society and a catalyst for mutual maturation between different groups

The ACT Alliance MENA Forum held its annual meeting in Amman and online, on Monday 13 May 2024, in the presence of the concerned officers of the ACT Alliance, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs, the Director of the MECC Diakonia and Social Service Department at Mr. Samer Laham, and members of the ACT Alliance MENA Forum representatives of local and international organizations. 

During the meeting, the Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs delivered a lecture entitled “Church’s Role in Peace Building, A Middle Eastern Experience”, in which he spoke about many  topics centered around embeddedness of peace in Christian Faith, essence and ingredients of peacebuilding, the modalities of Church’s action in peacebuilding, the Logos: "word, discourse, & reason", the Praxis:  Joint Actions in Society & Culture, and working towards a paradigm of Church peacebuilding. 

The Middle East Council of Churches Participates in it

The Head of the Episcopal Committee for the Media Institutions and the Maronite Patriarchal Vicar of Jounieh His Eminence Bishop Antoine Nabil Al Andari, presided over a Mass in Our Lady Church in Amchit, Lebanon, on Sunday 12 May 2024, on the intention of journalists and media workers, on the occasion of the 58th World Communications Day. Noting that His Eminence was assisted by the Head of the Catholic Information Center Monsignor Abdo Abou Kasem, the Media Officer in the Maronite Diocese of Byblos Father Antoine Atallah, and the Parish Servant Father Charbel Al Khoury.

At the invitation of the United Church of Canada

The United Church of Canada (UCC) organization, held on Thursday 9 May 2024, an online farewell meeting for Mrs. Patti Talbot, who retired after 30 years of working at the UCC and contributing to strengthening the ecumenical spirit. The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs and the Director of the MECC Diakonia and Social Service Department Mr. Samer Laham, participated in the meeting.

A Prayer Service Organized by Al Sabeel Center with the Participation of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs

On the occasion of Easter according to the Eastern calendar and Ascension according to the Western calendar, Al Sabeel Center, which is an ecumenical theology movement in the Holy Land, organized an online prayer service, entitled “Hope in the Midst of Hopelessness,” on Thursday 9 May 2024. Participants were Church leaders, clergy, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs, and guests.

During the Easter season 2024, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), Diakonia and Social Service Department, Lebanon’s Office, held an awareness day camp on gender-based violence (GBV), Our Lady Dispensary, affiliated with the MECC, in the Sabtieh region –Mount Lebanon, where recreational activities were carried out.  

The social worker used music to better deliver her message to the kids and to create a joyful atmosphere for them to enjoy. As for the activities, they included games such as hula hoops, jumping, playing with balloons, doing handcrafts such as decorating cakes and coloring pictures. Most importantly however, was the gender-based violence awareness messages that the social worker infused with the session as the kids engaged in the activities.   

Believing in the importance of environmental awareness, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) continues its theological environmental missions in various countries of the region to emphasize the necessity of prayer and working together in order to preserve God’s creation that we are entrusted with. 

In this context, the Middle East Council of Churches had an environmental presence within the activities of the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” in Egypt last March, where the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs traveled to the Arab Republic of Egypt to participate in it. He was accompanied by the journalist Lea Adel Maamary, Coordinator of Communication for Church Relations at MECC, and the Archdeacon Garen Yosolkanian, Manager of the EcoJustice Unit at MECC. 

On the first anniversary of the launch of the

Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and Forcibly Absented

Organized by the Middle East Council of Churches

And the 11th anniversary of the abduction of the two Archbishops of Aleppo

Being abducted by another human being or a group, and being removed from your daily life, family, and loved ones, to be confined to a place haunted by terror and suspicion, is a return to primitive life. By what right, heavenly, or earthly, does one creature seize another, equal in dignity and the right to life and freedom, remove him from society and throw him into the jungle of abduction?

This “right” that the kidnapper grants to himself cannot be only explained by his sense of belonging to the forest and not to society. It is the logic of the jungle that still occupies a large place in our modern societal life, which still harbors a lot of primitiveness.

On the occasion of the feast of Saint John the Beloved apostle, the Evangelist Theologian, patron saint of His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for the Greek Orthodox, the thirteenth of the Holy Pure Apostles, and the President of the Middle East Council of Churches for the Orthodox family, the MECC family, in the name of its Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, extends heartfelt congratulations to His Beatitude, wishing him continued health, well-being, goodness, blessing, and holiness, through the intercession of Saint John the Beloved Evangelist and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Family Empowerment - The Social Foundation of Human Civilization”

The MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs Calls for Organizing an Islamic-Christian Conference to Defend the Family, Empower it and Enhance Its Role in the Crisis-ridden Society

The Faculty of Religions and Human Sciences and the Research Center for Humanities and Religious Sciences at Al Maaref University - Lebanon held the fourth international conference under the title “Empowering the Family - The Social Foundation of Human Civilization,” on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 April 2024, in the conference hall on the university campus - Beirut.

Participants were specialized researchers from Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Algeria, Tunisia, Uganda and Germany. As well as attendees were religious, social and political figures, as well as diplomatic, judicial and cultural personalities.

The conference included five panels, spread over two days, which revolved around many topics: first, the impact of intellectual and social transformations on the disintegration of the Western family, second, the disintegration of the family in the service of the capitalist economy, third, the paths and agreements for dismantling the family, fourth, the family is the basis of human society, and fifth, empowering the family is a human civilizational project.

On the occasion of the "The Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented"

MECC holds a Webinar About “Wars, Abduction, Absence, and Ways to Reduce Harm”

The Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs: abduction is still rampant in many places in the world and there is no one to deter the perpetrators, because their actions are only part of the crime that humanity has not succeeded, and may not succeed, to curb

On the commemoration of the kidnapping of the two Archbishops of Aleppo, Metropolitan Boulos Yaziji and Metropolitan Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim, and on the commemoration of the "The Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented", which the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) had launched and designated on 22 April of each year, MECC held its monthly webinar, entitled “Wars, Abduction, Absence, and Ways to Reduce Harm”, on Thursday 25 April 2024. The webinar took place with the participation of expert speakers from various fields and the presence of a group of specialists, university students, and interested attendees in the topic at hand.

The webinar, which was broadcast live on the MECC Facebook page, included two interventions, moderated by Dr. Laure Abi Khalil, who spoke in her opening speech about the cases of violence in the region amidst the difficult circumstances it is going through, denouncing this bitter reality and stressing the role of states and governments in the context of this issue.

In this Easter we lift our Hope stemming from the Resurrection of Jesus, so may we join together in humility and ecumenical spirit and preach the transforming Love of the Incarnated Son of God to the world. Christ Risen!

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), Communication and Public Relations Department, have now issued its online Ecumenical calendar for the month of May 2024. 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.

In the context of strengthening the ecumenical ties, the Reverend Dr. John Holdsworth, a Communications Consultant and Former Archdeacon of the Anglican Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf who is now editing a journal about the Middle East, visited the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs, on Thursday 25 April 2024, at the offices of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut.

During the meeting, the attendees discussed the relationship between the Anglican Church and the Middle East Council of Churches, in addition to the role of this Church and the activities it implements. As well as, they talked about the program of events for the Fiftieth Year of the MECC Founding, and also discussed the issue of Ecumenism and the directions it is taking, in addition to various issues such as abduction and massacres.

Dr. Michel E. Abs

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

During this period, we live several significant events that carry profound lessons for humanity. Among the most noticeable are Easter, the commemoration of the abduction of the Archbishops of Aleppo on April 22, the commemoration of the Armenian massacres on April 24, and later, the commemoration of the Syriac-Assyrian-Chaldean massacres on June 15, referred to as Sayfo.

In this emotionally charged period, the Christian believer pauses to contemplate these events that have shaped a crucial part of human history. All revolve around the Christian faith, the Christian mission, and the Christian role in this region and the world.

Christ was unjustly arrested, tried by hypocrites, and crucified by tyrants who believed the hypocrites’ words. However, He triumphed over annihilation through resurrection, offering hope and new life to humanity. His “crime” was teaching and practicing love, challenging all those who harbor spite, hatred, fanaticism, and corruption.

The Armenian people, followers of Christ’s faith, suffered a similar fate. They were unjustly “arrested” and slandered, tried by a group of hypocrites and tyrants, and subjected to all forms of torture, humiliation, and abuse. This group of tyrants committed murder against more than one community under its authority, sparing no human group that it perceived as weak.

A delegation from the Islamic Azad University of Qom, Iran, visited the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs, on Tuesday 23 April 2024, at the offices of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut. The delegation included the President of the University in Qom Sheikh Dr. Hassan Khairi, and the Head of the University’s Office in Lebanon Dr. Mohammad Kourani.

During the meeting, the attendees discussed modern directions in the human sciences and the defects that have afflicted these sciences in the West, in addition to the necessity of creating innovative, authentic human sciences stemming from the Eastern culture.

The attendees also discussed various curricula in some universities, stressing the need to intensify conferences, seminars and meetings between these universities for joint thinking and drawing a new direction in the human sciences.

Full Video of the Conference Organized by MECC About the Armenian Genocide

22 April 2024 – At the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Geitaoui, Lebanon

On the occasion of the fiftieth year of the founding of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), in commemoration of the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and with the blessing and presence of His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church of Cilicia, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches for the Catholic Family, MECC held a conference entitled “Keeping Memory Alive”, about the Armenian Genocide, presented by the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs. It took place on Monday 22 April 2024, at the Theatre of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Geitaoui, Lebanon.

Hence, you can find in the video the full conference which also included a speech delivered by His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian.

More information about the conference

The MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs: If the perpetrators of massacres had been held accountable in an appropriate manner, this would not have been repeated in other parts of the world

On the 109th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian people are still waiting for justice, striving to achieve it and commemorate this event, which constituted a turning point in their history. April 24 is a date that Armenians will never forget... a date that bears witness to massacres committed against a people who have long struggled to preserve their existence. It is true that the Armenians are still experiencing great sadness and pain, but they are deriving their strength and determination to persevere in their faith in Jesus Christ, the world-giver of great mercy.

In commemoration of this painful anniversary, within the activities of the Fiftieth Year of the Founding of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), and under the auspices of His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church of Cilicia, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches for the Catholic Family, MECC held a conference entitled “Keeping Memory Alive,” about the Armenian Genocide, on Monday 22 April 2024, at the Theatre of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Geitaoui, Lebanon.

The conference which was followed by a speech by His Beatitude Patriarch Minassian, was delivered by the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs who presented a historical and geopolitical overview of the era in which the Armenian Genocide occurred, in addition to the facts of these crimes and their repercussions.