The Synodality is the basis of the ecumenical path, “Kairos ME Towards Churches Global Compact” project have my blessing and support

His Holiness Pope Francis received in his office at the Vatican City the MECC Secretary General Dr. Souraya Bechealany, at head of a delegation that included the MECC director of theological and Ecumenical Department Rev. Fr Gaby Hachem, the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Lebanon Rev. Fr. Rouphael Zougheib and the MECC Policies and Communication Advisor Ziad El Sayegh.

The MECC Presidents Meeting, called for by the Secretary General Dr. Souraya Bechealany was held at the Patriarchal Monastery of Saint Elias Shwayya on the 29th of August 2019, graciously received by his Beatitude Patriarch John X.

Under the slogan “I am making everything new,” the Middle East Council of churches launched on Tuesday, August 28, its website with a new look that reflects the ecumenical mission of the Council, which is based on unity in diversity and partnership in the service of human dignity and openness to the other.

The MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) organized a spiritual meeting for the Council’s team in Syria on Friday, August 2, 2019. Father Gabi Hachem, the director of the TED, and Mr. Samer Laham the director of the Diakonia Department participated in this meeting which was entitled “Tabitha, Arise”.

The MECC, represented by Egypt's Immigration and Expatriates' Affairs minister, Dr. Nabila Makram, is participating at the 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace. 

His Beatitude Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of the Holy City and all other Palestine and Jordan received the MECC Secretary General Dr. Souraya Bechealany at the Patriarchate headquarter in Jordan. The Secretary General of the Patriarchate His Eminence Archbishop Aristarchos and the director of the MECC’s Office in Amman, Mrs. Wafaa Goussous, was present at the meeting.

A delegation of professors and students from the Priority Institute, TCD and DCIF met on Thursday August 1, the MECC Secretary General Dr. Souraya Bechealany and the MECC Director of the Theology and Ecumenical Department Rev. Fr Gaby Hachem at the Council's Headquarter in Beirut.

Rev. Badr: “Persecutions against all religions, especially Christians, have reached an unacceptable level”

For the second year in a row, the MECC, represented by Rev. Dr. Habib Badr, President of the National Evangelical Union in Lebanon and of the MECC Evangelical Family, participated in the “Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom” conference

The MECC’s team participated in a training workshop on “Team Building and Management” strategies, which was organized by the Council in collaboration with the “Institute for Leadership Development”. The participants were instructed by the Secretary General of the Bible Society Mike Bassous.

The MECC team distributed hygiene kits to 800 returning families to Kafr Nasej in the northern rural of Daraa, as part of its ongoing relief program.

The MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) organized, an ecumenical program of Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling for pastors in Iraq on June 9 to 15, 2019. Eighteen priests, pastors, nuns, and laymen in leading positions of the local church institutions benefited from the five-days program which took place at the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchal Seminary of St. Peter, in Ankawa – Irbil.

The Middle East Council of Churches condemns the terrorist bombing which took place on Thursday July 11, 2019, in front of the Church of Our Lady in Qamishli-Syria. In a phone call to His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, MECC Secretary General Dr Souraya Bechealany denounced this criminal act and declared complete solidarity with the Syriac Orthodox Church, especially the faithful in Qamishli. Dr Bechealany said that “our faith will not falter before this treacherous crime nor will our determination waver.

A Delegation from the Danish Ministry of Foreign affairs visited the MECC Head Office in Beirut on Tuesday July 9. They were received by MECC Policies and Communication Advisor Ziad El Sayegh and MECC Director of the Communication and Public Relations Department Huguette Salameh, representing MECC Secretary General Dr. Souraya Bechealany.

The MECC team conducted vocational training courses on the mobile maintenance, women hairdressing and cooking principles and basics for 50 participants from both men and women, in Tartous governorate. The courses lasted for two months and a half, and were followed-up delicately and continuously evaluated by the MECC team.

The MECC Diakonia Department organized an awareness course against sexual harassment as part of a program launched to fight Gender-based Violence. The three-days course was held at the “Our Lady Dispensary” of MECC in Sabityeh – Lebanon. It targeted Lebanese, Iraqi and Syrian children aged 6 to 12 years old.

After enduring persecution, violence and uprooting, a group of Iraqi religious and laypeople are on the path to healing.
“They are suffering, in their minds and in their souls,” said Melkite Father Gabriel Hachem, part of a team from Lebanon that conducted trauma healing sessions in Irbil, Iraq.

The issue highlights the massive relief and development work carried out by the Department in the Holy Land, Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon.

Ziad EL Sayegh from MECC: “Religious authorities should stir the leap towards a healthily diversity management, away from generating xenophobia”.

MECC participated in a conference on ” The Crucial Role of Local Faith Actors Delivering the Global Compact on Refugees”, held on Tuesday, the 18th of June, at the Issam Fares Institute, American University of Beirut.

A delegation of 16 students from the Catholic Institute of the University Aix-la-Chapelle in Germany accompanied by three of their professors, visited the MECC Headquarters in Beirut on Wednesday June 12, 2019.

At the invitation of the Danish diocese of Aalborg, a delegation from the Middle East Council of Churches conducted an Ecumenical visit (May 24-31, 2019) to learn about the Lutheran National Church, its service and life in Denmark and to acquaint the parishes and the believers with the situation of the Church in the Middle East, and the council’s humanitarian and social situation.