“Momentum”

24-7-2025

This issue includes reports, videos, news, articles, and a full coverage of the latest developments of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), as well as the Church, Ecumenical, and social events…

This is in addition to the weekly word of the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs which is entitled in this issue “From Beneath the Rubble”.

You can check the issue via the following link: https://mailchi.mp/6297fca96731/momentum-mecc-weekly-newsletter.

You can also subscribe to the Momentum Newsletter via the following link: https://mecc.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?id=fd3381352a&u=1db32cafe9ea32b38eb90480a.

Professor Michel Abs

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

From beneath the rubble, we call to you.
From the heart of tragedy, we cry out.
We are the children of Palestine, the people of Gaza, abandoned by all the nations of the world,
betrayed by governments that defied their own people who stood in solidarity with us.

We are Gaza’s children, we are its women, its elderly, its disabled, its sick.
We are all those left to be prey to killing, hunger, thirst, disease, displacement, and sleeping in the open.
We are the people of the stricken Strip, whose present and future have been destroyed,
turned into victims of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

We are those forsaken by the world, our wounds deepened by the deep state that sees our land only as a source of tourism and energy, investing in it over the torn bodies of our children, ripped apart by its missiles.

O blind, deaf, and mute world,
Do you not hear the screams of Gaza’s wounded?…

Under the theme “Peace with Creation” and the symbol of “Garden of Peace”, inspired by Isaiah 32: 14-18, the Ecumenical family in the Middle East and the world unites to celebrate together the “Season of Creation” 2025. This season, which constitutes an Ecumenical, Christian and environmental station, begins every year on 1 September, with the Feast of Creation, and ends on October 4, with the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of ecology.

In this context, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) issues the guide for the “Season of Creation” 2025 in Arabic after the MECC Theological Department made its translation into Arabic, as is customary annually.

The guide includes all the details and information about the season, as well as the theme and slogan of this year, in addition to Prayers and suggestions for participating in the celebrations... Hence, you can find the guide for this year in Arabic and English.

An Episode Within the "Community Knowledge" Series

Produced by the Middle East Council of Churches

“Ecumenical Horizons” is a weekly program that features spiritual, cultural, intellectual, educational, youth and environmental topics.

Video - His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai Talks About the Challenges that the Family Faces Amidst the Current Situations

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, received the Secretary General and Executive Director of the Bible Society Dr. Mike Bassous, on Tuesday, July 21, 2025, at the Middle East Council of Churches headquarters in Beirut.

During the meeting, the Secretary General Professor Abs and Dr. Bassous discussed various topics and issues related to Churches and the importance of Church media and Church publications. They also discussed issues related to relations between Ecumenical institutions in the Middle East and ways of networking between them.

Moreover, Dr. Bassous confirmed his attendance at the Middle East Council of Churches partners' meeting that will be held next September. He also invited Professor Abs to attend the Bible Society's Diamond Jubilee celebration, as well as the launching of the “Armenian Study New Testament” booklet, which is a joint production between the Bible Society and the Armenian Orthodox Catholicosate of Cilicia.

"We agreed with His Excellency to develop joint projects for the awareness and protection of the public opinion"

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, headed a delegation from the Council on a visit to the Lebanese Minister of Information Lawyer Dr. Paul Morcos, on Monday, July 21, 2025, at the headquarters of the Lebanese Ministry of Information in Beirut.

The delegation included the Journalist Lea Adel Maamary, Media Officer and Coordinator of the Church and Media Relations at MECC, Professor Laure Abi Khalil, Coordinator of the "Dialogue, Social Cohesion and Human Dignity" program at MECC, TV Director Johnny Antoun, Social Media Officer at the Communication Department, and Elia Nasrallah, Communication and Media Officer at the Communication Department.

During the meeting, His Excellency the Minister Dr. Paul Morcos welcomed the visiting delegation, commending the work and mission of the Middle East Council of Churches, reviewing the latest developments of its programs, and welcoming any cooperation between the Ministry of Information and MECC. His Excellency also praised the media role played by MECC through "The Platform of the Word," which produces programs and episodes aimed at bringing together and connecting all members of society.

For his part, the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs presented to His Excellency an overview about the media development witnessed by the MECC, as well as the Council's most prominent goals in facing hate speech, injustice, and unfairness, especially through the media campaigns it implements to raise awareness and disseminate essential knowledge.

An Episode Within the "Community Knowledge" Series

The Video Is Produced by the Coptic Orthodox Media Center

The Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (A.T.I.M.E) held its General Assembly meeting on Friday, July 18, 2025, at Our Lady of Peace Sheraton - Cairo, headed by Archimandrite Jack Khalil, the ATIME’s President, and Father Michel Kanbar, the Executive Secretary. At the beginning of the second session at 5:00 pm, a new Executive Secretariat was elected as follows:

President: His Grace Bishop Bigol Abbot of St. Virgin Mary El-Muharraq Monastery and Director of the Monastery's Seminary (Eastern Orthodox Family)

Executive Secretary: Reverend Dr. Samuel Rozfy Ibrahim, Dean of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (Evangelical Family)

Associate Executive Secretaries:

Dr. Gergis Ibrahim Saleh, Honorary Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (Oriental Orthodox Family)

Sister Dr. Rose Abi Aad, Professor at the Faculty of Religious and Theological Sciences at La Sagesse University (Catholic Family)

Dr. Daniel Ayouch, Professor at the St. John of Damascus Institute, University of Balamand (Orthodox Family)

"Nicaea from the Preaching of the Apostles... to the Evangelization of Today"

At a regional moment saturated with transformations, and in the heart of Cairo, more than fifty students from various Churches and Theological Institutes in the Middle East gathered to participate in the third student conference of the Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME), entitled:

"The Council of Nicaea - The Faith of the Church from the Preaching of the Apostles to the Evangelization of Today," which took place from July 13 to 18, 2025, at Our Lady of Peace Hotel, Sheraton Heliopolis, Cairo.

The conference was organized by the ATIME’s Executive Secretariat, headed by Archimandrite Jack Khalil, and coordinated directly by Father Dr. Michel Kanbar (Executive Secretary), with the participation of the Associate Secretaries Reverend Dr. Bishoy Helmy, Reverend Dr. Samuel Rozfy, and Father Antoine Al Ahmar, Director of the Theological Department of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). It provided unique space that combined serious Theological research, living Ecumenical experience, and human communication across Church Affiliations.

Via Suboro TV

“Momentum”

17-7-2025

This issue includes reports, videos, news, articles, and a full coverage of the latest developments of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), as well as the Church, Ecumenical, and social events…

This is in addition to the weekly word of the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs which is entitled in this issue “The Executive Committee at Its Meeting, Paths and Lessons”.

You can check the issue via the following link: https://mailchi.mp/c284da2bcb46/momentum-mecc-weekly-newsletter.

You can also subscribe to the Momentum Newsletter via the following link: https://mecc.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?id=fd3381352a&u=1db32cafe9ea32b38eb90480a.

Paths and Lessons

Professor Michel Abs

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

The Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches met in Beirut last week, chaired by the MECC Presidents or their delegates, since some were absent for emergencies, with the participation of the Secretary General, associate Secretaries General, and the staff team of directors, section heads, administrators, and technical personnel.

At the start of the meeting, a minute of silence and prayer was observed for the souls of those martyred in the massacre at St. Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Dweilah, Damascus, as a result of the terrorist bombing. The tragedy of the church bombing took up a significant portion of the time allotted to various topics. In this context, there was a strong condemnation of all forms of violence, regardless of their source, and a strong denouncement of hate speech, extremism, racism, and the current acts of violence that are considered an insult to humanity.

Following this, the participants agreed to visit His Beatitude Patriarch John X the next day at the Patriarchal residence in Balamand, to express solidarity and sorrow for the loss of all these innocent victims. This visit took place the next day, with a large delegation representing the Council’s Executive Committee and staff, in a solidarity meeting that expressed deep feelings of love and strong unity among all who desire civil peace in this land, rejecting all forms of violence, intimidation, and oppression, regardless of source or target…