As part of his tour in Lebanon, His Eminence Bishop Dr. Udo Bentz, Chairman of the Working Group in the Middle East of the German Bishops’ Conference, visited the offices of the Middle East Council of Churches’ General Secretariat in Beirut, on Monday 17 October 2022, accompanied by Dr. Daniel Legutke, Secretary of the Working Group. The MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs welcomed the delegation at the Council and the Director of the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar.

The Service and Relief Department – Diakonia, at the Middle East Council of Churches, Syria’s Office, organized a graduation ceremony for the participants of the vocational trainings that were implemented in Tafas. An exhibition was organized in Saidat Al Bishara Church in Dara’a governorate where the production of trainees was presented.

The three-day exhibition included the productions of 150 trainees in the Vocational Trainings in different specializations: tailoring, electronics repair, mobile repair, dairy production, men and women hairdressing.

In the ceremony, all graduates received kits including the tools needed to start working or launch their own business.

A Round Table at the Invitation of the Middle East Council of Churches

Thursday 27 October 2022, at 10:15 am

As part of its monthly series of seminars, the Middle East Council of Churches invites you to a round table it organizes under the title "Women and Human Dignity", on Thursday 27 October 2022, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Beirut. You can participate in it via the following Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/2jb2y9vy, or live on the MECC Facebook page.

The Full Lecture of Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, in Beirut

Mesdames, messieurs, je veux juste commencer avec quelques mots en français par respect de la tradition de cette belle université. Monsieur le Recteur je vous remercie de votre accueil si chaleureux. C’est un grand honneur d’être là avec vous.

It is indeed a great pleasure and honour to be with you here in Lebanon today – for so many reasons. Some of there are more general; others more specific to the issue of Freedom of Religion or Belief which is so important to so many of us here today.

There are two general reasons why I’m delighted to be here today.

First, this is not my first time here, and the last time I was here I was so deeply impressed by what I found, specifically of the way in which the churches have responded to the refugee crisis – and I’m sure other faith groups have also responded significantly too. I was touched and moved by the generosity of spirit and the genuine hospitality I saw being exercised.

Answer at the Saint Joseph University’s Campus in Beirut

Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen Presents a Lecture On Religious Freedom and Persecuted Christians

At the joint invitation and organization of the Middle East Council of Churches, the Bible Society, and the Faculty of Religious Sciences at the Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut, a lecture entitled “Why Our Religious Freedom Matters” was given by Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro, and Author of the FCDO’s independent review of persecuted Christians. It was held on Thursday 13 October 2022, at Francois Basil auditorium in the Innovation and Sports Campus, at the Saint Joseph University. Attendees were representatives of concerned organizations and parties, priests and people interested in the topic at hand.

MECC Supports Women in Akkar

Despite the deplorable economic conditions hanging over the country, the Service and Relief – Diakonia Department, Beirut’s Office, at the Middle East Council of Churches, launched a project aiming to enhance women’s resiliency and improve their livelihood. As such, the department chose Akkar, one of the most neglected and poverty-stricken areas in the country, to implement the project that would promote women’s products and their sale. Three villages namely Andket, Bazbina and Chadra were taken into consideration.

It is October. The days are getting shorter and cooler. Breast Cancer Awareness Month is also being launched in the Palestinian Territories to raise public awareness of the issue and to offer screening services. With a grand opening ceremony in Ramallah, the Auguste Victoria Hospital, on whose compound the Central Office is located, together with the Mariam Foundation and the Palestine Museum, kicked off this month by turning the sky pink. A digital mammography clinic at the hospital will be through Palestine all month for early detection of breast cancer with the "Your Checkup - Your Life" awareness campaign, conducting mammography examinations and check-ups.

El 16 de octubre, día de la fundación de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación, también llamado Día Mundial de la Alimentación, esta organización se dedica a organizar eventos avanzados, ricos y bien preparados para sensibilizar sobre la alimentación, la seguridad alimentaria, la malnutrición, la hambruna, la migración rural y todo lo relacionado con estos fenómenos.

En un contexto relacionado, las estadísticas de los diversos sitios relacionados con el tema te abruman con los problemas que enfrentan los pueblos subyugados oprimidos, así como las clases subyugadas en los pueblos no subyugados, en términos de comida, bebida, vivienda, atención médica y otros asuntos relacionados... Las cifras estadísticas que muestran a millones de personas hambrientas, sin hogar y privadas de las mínimas condiciones de vida, así como el número de los que no tienen un mañana, que no conocen su destino y los que sufren problemas vitales, tanto físicos como psicológicos, llenan las páginas de las instituciones que se ocupan de sus asuntos y sus fotos en su desplazamiento, asilo y miseria consolidan la imagen del rostro inhumano de la humanidad y su afán por bailar sobre el dolor existente.

H.E. Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen: guaranteeing the religious freedom in Lebanon is good news for the country, the region and the world

Aiming at building Ecclesiastical bridges between the East and West, His Eminence Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro, visited the offices of the Middle East Council of Churches’ General Secretariat in Beirut, on Thursday 13 October 2022. He was accompanied by a delegation from the Diocese in the UK, including Rachael Varney, Executive Assistant, David Fieldsend, International Affairs Adviser, and Revd Etienne Van Blerk, alongside Dr. Mike Bassous, General Secretary of the Bible Society. At MECC, Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs and a team from the Council's General Secretariat welcomed the delegation.

Decisions to Strengthen the Ecumenical Spirit

The Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME) held its General Assembly’s meeting online on Tuesday 11 October 2022. Attendees were ATIME’s President Archimandrite Dr. Jack Khalil, its Executive Secretary Father Dr. Michael Kanbar, and the Director of the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar, alongside the deans of the faculties and institutes, members in ATIME.

During the meeting, the participants discussed many topics and issues, which are following up on the “Season of Creation” project and ways to enhance and support it, and preparing for the environmental symposium which will be held in May 2023 in coordination with the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department.

On the 16th of October, the founding day of the Food and Agriculture Organization, also called World Food Day, this organization is active in organizing advanced, rich and well-prepared events in order to raise awareness of food, food security, malnutrition, famine, rural migration and everything related to these phenomena.

In a related context, statistics from the various sites concerned with the subject overwhelm you with the problems faced by the oppressed subjugated people as well as subjugated classes in non-subjugated peoples, in terms of food, drink, housing, health care and other related matters...Statistical figures showing millions of people that are hungry, homeless and deprived of the minimum conditions of life as well as of the number of those who have no tomorrow, who do not know their fate and those who suffer from life problems, both physical and psychological, fill the pages of the institutions concerned with their issues and their pictures in their displacement, asylum and misery consolidate the image of the inhumane face of humanity and its eagerness to dance on existing pain.

Wednesday 19 and Saturday 22 October 2022

Let us participate together and via SAT7 in the rerun of the Ecumenical Prayer Service on the occasion of the “Season of Creation” closing, on Wednesday 19 October 2022 at 10 pm Beirut time, and Saturday 22 October 2022 at 5 pm Beirut time.

Noting that the Prayer was organized by the Middle East Council of Churches, and was held under the patronage and presidency of His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East; at the Church of the Patriarchal Edifice in Bkerke, Lebanon, on the eve of the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, on Monday 3 October 2022.

Women in Lebanon, just like any members of our society, have been severely impacted by the dire socioeconomic conditions haunting the country. Their sources of livelihood have been put to the test the same way their mental health has been impacted. For this reason, the Service and Relief – Diakonia Department, Beirut’s Office, at the Middle East Council of Churches, organized a Crochet Knitting workshop, in an attempt to alleviate such burdens.

During the workshop, women, from different age groups, were taught how to make crochet using balls of yarn and a pair of needles. They got the chance to learn a new skill, which they can use to start their own small business or make decorations for their homes.

It is a fact that unequipped WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) facilities that do not meet good hygiene conditions constitute a danger that might cause the spread of diseases among students.

Therefore, The Service and Relief Department –Diakonia, at The Middle East Council of Churches, Damascus’ Office, rehabilitated the WASH facilities in Aartouz Third (Al Thaletha) School and Aartouz Mixed (Mukhtalata) School in Aartouz, Josef Abou Zedan School in Sehnaya and Mohamad Husein Eid School in Jdaihet Aartouz City in Rural Damascus in order to secure a healthy environment for students and teachers.

The rehabilitation activities included the rehabilitation of WASH infrastructure and its equipment, maintenance of the drinking water network, installation of taps, toilets, doors, tile, ceramic, electric cables, water pumps and pipes in addition to completing the required painting activities.

The “Season of Creation” media coverage is still ongoing in the Middle East. Charity Radio TV broadcasted a special episode centered on this international season, within “Hawana Hawak” program. It was prepared and presented by Zouhour Abou Mansour.

The guest of the episode was the Director of the Theological and Ecumenical Department of the Middle East Council of Churches Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar, who tackled the objectives of the season, its importance and all related details. Fr. Al Ahmar shed light also on the MECC work in launching the season in the region, as well as the events and celebrations which it organizes for the occasion.

They are our elders, our ancient oaks, the storehouse of our memory and the treasure of our wisdom. We resort to them in calamities, and by their opinion we are guided, as they bestow upon us the experience, wisdom and foresight that they have paid for dearly in their life.

They call them the elderly, and some of them call them the aging, and kindly they call them the third age. It is the most vulnerable, defenseless and marginalized group. It is the category that some think it is not needed and will not be needed, so they neglect it and do not care about it.

We saw some of them roaming the streets, begging to elicit sympathy from people. Some of them are looking for food in garbage containers, and others are thrown in the beds of the elderly shelters, as the name has been applied in Lebanon and some Arab countries, and some of them roam the hot meals restaurants established by some associations, eat what they can and hide what they can in a box they brought with them, in order to protect themselves from the evil of hunger for two or three days. As for the most fortunate among them, he is the one who obtained during his life a job with a pension plan, so he was safe from the evil of humiliation, need and homelessness, because the end of service indemnity is exhausted within a few years after receiving it.

A society that allows the dignity of its elders to be insulted can only be described as ingrate, political ungratefulness that leads to social and human ungratefulness.

A Special Statement from H.B. Patriarch Minassian and Interviews with Some Participants

The Eastern Ecumenical Family celebrated the “Season of Creation” 2022 closing. The Maronite Church hosted an Ecumenical Prayer service organized by the Middle East Council of Churches, under the patronage and presidency of His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East. The celebration was held at the Church of the Patriarchal Edifice in Bkerke, Lebanon, on the eve of the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, on Monday 3 October 2022.

The video presents a brief overview of the celebration in addition to a special statement from His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church of Cilicia, and MECC President for the Catholic Family. As well as interviews with many participants in the Prayer.

As part of the “Season of Creation” 2022 activities, SAT7 channel presented a special episode entitled "Listen to the Voice of Creation", prepared by the Communication and Public Relations Department of the Middle East Council of Churches and presented by Sirene Semerdjian. It was broadcasted on Monday 3 October 2022, and included many environmental and Theological segments, with guests from the world and the region, and from various fields.

The episode began with a special video from the member of the “Season of Creation” committee at the World Council of Churches Mrs. Joy Kennedy. The video focused on the “Season of Creation” launching in the Churches worldwide, in addition to the environmental challenges and ongoing preparations for the COP27 climate change summit.

A Lecture with Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen

Thursday 13 October 2022, 6:00 PM at the Saint Joseph University in Beirut

The Middle East Council of Churches, the Bible Society, and the Faculty of Religious Sciences at the Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut, invite you to a lecture entitled “Why Our Religious Freedom Matters”, with Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro, and Author of the FCDO’s independent review of persecuted Christians. It will be held on Thursday 13 October 2022, from 6:00 to 7:30 PM, at Francois Bassil auditorium in the Innovation and Sports Campus, at the Saint Joseph University. RSVP by Monday 10 October 2022, via 01/ 902020 or bsl@biblesociety.org.lb. The lecture will be followed by a Vin D’honneur reception.

The lecture will include English to Arabic interpretation.