The Week of Unity and the Inevitable Ecumenical Path on the Road to Social Cohesion

The Press Conference Launching the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Minbar Al-Kalima – Middle East Council of Churches
Beirut, January 7, 2025

Professor Dr. Michel Abs

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

His Excellency Bishop Youssef Soueif
Maronite Archbishop of Tripoli and Head of the Episcopal Committee for Ecumenical Relations
in the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops – Lebanon

Esteemed attendees, whether in person or remotely, from the media community and beyond,
Esteemed colleagues in the Middle East Council of Churches,

Before we begin our press conference, I would like first to extend best wishes of a glorious Christmas to the churches currently celebrating the Feast of the Nativity, and a blessed Feast of the Epiphany to those celebrating it. May the coming days bring better times for our societies.

I also wish to warmly welcome His Excellency Bishop Youssef Soueif on his first visit to the Council—the home of ecumenical work in the Middle East—and say, “You are truly welcome, Your Excellency, bringing us abundant blessings.”

My address today is titled:

“The Week of Unity and the Inevitable Ecumenical Path on the Road to Social Cohesion.”

For over a century, Christians have gathered to pray for their spiritual and institutional unity. Over time, this practice has grown into a firmly established tradition—a vital part of the culture of collaborative (ecumenical) work, particularly here in the Middle East. This region is the cradle of the Good News, the Incarnation, the Refuge, and the Resurrection—where Christians were first called Christians, and from which the message spread to the entire world.

This year, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity takes on special significance:

• It coincides with the end of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Middle East Council of Churches, serving as its crowning event.

• It also marks the seventeen-hundredth anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which ratified the Nicene Creed, one of the symbols of Christian unity.

These milestones give the Week of Prayer special importance this year and explain why the Middle East Council of Churches is holding this press conference, in partnership with the Episcopal Committee for the Ecumenical Work in the Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon, represented by its esteemed head, Bishop Youssef Soueif.

It is noteworthy that this press conference is our first to be held through “Word Platform” an initiative of the Middle East Council of Churches supported by Noursat–Télé Lumière. Beyond its practical role in conveying information and news, this new platform symbolizes the collaboration among church institutions to spread God’s Word and foster love among people, at a time when values are eroding, and standards are absent.

There is no debate about the role of the media in advancing public knowledge and awareness—particularly now, when truth is locked in a race against falsehood and misdirection. This is both a social and cultural responsibility, and an act of faith.

Likewise, there is no debate about the need for coordination among church bodies at every level, with media work being the cornerstone for sharing the “good word.”

In this spirit, the Council has launched the Ecumenical Communication Network, which brings together the largest number of church media institutions in the Middle East. Following its first meeting, this network became a functioning working group—a “network” in the full sense, reflecting today’s era of interconnection. It has already begun its work and is now the region’s broadest platform for ecumenical communication. We are currently preparing for the network’s first in-person conference.

It is important to note that launching ecumenical networks is not limited to media alone: the same process is extending to every area of joint church work—environment, youth, women, development, and more.

Creating these cooperative networks is a central element of the Council’s strategy for the coming four years. Simultaneously, we are enhancing other key facets of the Council’s strategic framework, including advancing our intellectual and academic output, fostering high-level ecumenical scholarship, and expanding the Council’s role in promoting dialogue among all components of society. All this is happening alongside the established and ongoing MECC programs currently underway.

Within this broader trajectory, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity—an essential fixture on the annual calendar of the ecumenical movement and thus of the Council—represents one of the Council’s efforts to bring people closer. Specifically, it aims to unite Christians on the path toward bringing all people of the Middle East closer together. We all know how diverse this region is—rich in religions, sects, denominations, ethnicities, and nationalities—a fact that could turn it into a furnace consuming everyone unless a culture of dialogue prevails and hate speech recedes. For us, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is one step in the thousand-mile journey toward social cohesion and civil peace.

The Week of Prayer has been planned with the best methods, through coordination between the Council and the Catholic Ecumenical Committee. The Council has issued the Arabic version of the prayer booklet, now in the hands of believers and all those interested, complete with texts and methodologies.

This year, our prayer for unity takes us to Bethany, where the One who is the Resurrection and the Life met two grieving sisters, promising them eternal life and demonstrating that faith can move mountains. He asked one of the sisters, “Do you believe this?”
Now I ask you, bearers of our Lord’s eternal message, gathered here to pray in His holy name—do you not believe this as well?