MECC Secretary General Dr Souraya Bechealany on Télé Lumière and NOURSAT: During the season of Lent, let our quarantine be like crossing with Jesus from death to Resurrection
Dr Souraya Bechealany, the secretary general of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), was the guest of Father Nicolas Riachi on “Saa men wa’tak” which means in English “An Hour of Your Time”, a show broadcasted on Télé Lumière and NOURSAT. Bechealany clarified the position of the Middle East Council of Churches during these hard times due to the Coronavirus outbreak and highlighted the joint statement issued by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Secretaries General of Regional Ecumenical Organizations (REOs).
Dr Souraya Bechealany showcased the role that churches play nowadays in addressing believers to explain to them the true spiritual, Christian and ecclesiastical meaning of the current circumstances. She also recalled the MECC statement, issued on 19 March 2020, which provided a spiritual explanation of these challenging times by linking the Coronavirus outbreak to the season of Lent. In addition, Bechealany mentioned that MECC has participated in the drafting of the WCC and REOs statement that also gave a spiritual meaning to this difficult period. She stressed the importance of the statement that represents the voice of the Church emanating from the ecclesiastical authority to address believers through an honest and real approach based on theology and the Bible. She also took this opportunity to highlight that the Middle East Council of Churches’ statements are centered on theological and humanitarian fundamental principles and based on the decisions made by Church leaders.
MECC secretary general rejected the position of some priests and scholars that, based on a personal theological interpretation, considered that “Jesus’ grace protects us from the virus”. She insisted that Jesus Christ gave us wisdom and the ability of discernment, to always choose life, adding that the Church is a devoted mother that must always protect human life. Bechealany shed light on this deep theological concept that is fundamental to the life of the Church, explaining that “by respecting home quarantine in the name of Jesus, we will become means of grace that protect life rather than sources of viral transmission”. She emphasized that priority must be given to common good and moral values anchored in our Christian traditions, adding that everyone should abandon traditions that contradict with faith.
At the end of her statement, Bechealany sent a message to people asking them to turn this period to a period of grace, prayer, repentance and self-reflection while focusing on caring for the others. She urged organizations, dioceses and congregations to concentrate their efforts on serving people as “we need to cooperate all together to be at the service of the poor, marginalized and sick and most importantly pray to support medical staff and health workers who risk their lives to provide treatment for infected patients”.