Momentum, the Weekly Newsletter from the Middle East Council of Churches
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 the message of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs which title is “The fiftieth year of the founding of the Middle East Council of Churches, Catholic Information Center”. It was the speech that Dr. Abs delivered at the press conference held by the Catholic Media Center in Lebanon, in partnership with MECC, 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, as well as the program for the MECC Jubilee Year was presented, and the Ecumenical musical event “Beirut 2024” was announced.
The issue also presents details about this press conference which included speeches delivered by Father Abdo Abou Kassem, President of the Catholic Media Center in Lebanon, 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, Dr. Michel Abs, the MECC Secretary General, Father Tanios Khalil, Dean of the Faculty of Religious and Theological Sciences at La Sagesse University in Lebanon, Mr. Marc Merhej, the organizer of the Ecumenical musical event. This is in addition to interventions addressed by His Eminence Archbishop Antoine Bou Najem, Maronite Archbishop of Antelias, and Dr. Mike Bassous, the Secretary General of the Bible Society.
In preparation for the 50-Year Jubilee of the MECC founding, the issue presents news about the visit of the Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs and an MECC delegation to Reverend Dr. Paul Haidostian, President of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East, President of Haigazian University in Lebanon, and MECC President for the Evangelical Family, and a visit to His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East.
As well as, the issue includes a news about the Prayer Service held by the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East (UAECNE), on the intention of Armenia, Palestine and Lebanon, on Saturday 6 January 2024, at the First Armenian Evangelical Church, Beirut, with the participation of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs.
On the occasion of the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” and with the launching of the Fiftieth Year of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)’s Founding, MECC has the honor to invite you to participate in the Ecumenical Musical Event “Beirut 2024”, on Saturday 20 January 2024, at 5pm Beirut Time, in the Forum de Beyrouth.
This event constitutes a spiritual Ecclesiastical meeting to praise our God Jesus Christ, and will be performed by an Ecumenical choir and orchestra that includes more than 300 choristers and musicians, Clergy and lay people from various Church Families. Noting that this meeting includes hymns and Prayers from various Churches and musical traditions and rituals.
The invitation is public and you can reserve your tickets for free through the following link:
Moreover, the Middle East Council of Churches releases the Arabic version of the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” booklet 2024, under the title “You shall love the Lord your God... and your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27), after it was translated into Arabic by the Council, as every year. You can also find the program of celebrations that will be held in Lebanon for the occasion, organized by the Episcopal Committee for Ecumenical Relations in partnership with the Middle East Council of Churches.
Furthermore, the issue presents an interview with Dr. Laure Abi Khalil, the Coordinator of the Social Rehabilitation Project at the Middle East Council of Churches, made by the journalist Lea Adel Maamary. In the interview, Dr. Abi Khalil highlighted the series of monthly seminars on various social issues, launched by MECC within the framework of the “Human Dignity Project” - “Dialogue and Social Cohesion-Social Capital Rehabilitation” which the Council is working to implement consecutively.
You can also find the Ecumenical Calendar for the month of January 2024 which MECC has issued, as well as Ecumenical reports, the weekly Prayer, videos, and news of the Middle Eastern Churches. In addition to a socio-economic overview of the Middle East during December 2023 and the latest updates of the Coronavirus in the region.