MECC General Secretary meets the Catholic Patriarchs in Lebanon during their meeting on 2009/10/7:
Upon the invitation of Father Khalil Alwan, the General Secretary of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs, Mr. Guirges Saleh the General Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches attended on 5/10/2009 the opening of ceremony of the Nineteenth Annual Conference of the Catholic Patriarchs in the monastery of Our Lady of Al-Sharfi , the residence of the Syrian Catholic Patriarch.
On 7/10/2009 Mr. Saleh presented to the Patriarchs a report on the Council latest development during the period from November 2008 until October 2009 including the decisions of the two executive committee meeting that were held on 15/1 and 15/7/2009. He presented the new structure that was adopted by the Executive Committee until 2011. During that time a strategic analysis of the MECC will be launched and it will yield final structure that will be adopted in 2011 MECC General Assembly.
The General Secretary also informed them that the partners are looking forward to greater financial support of the Council by the member churches as a sign of Ownership.
Ms. Alexa Abi Habib, the MECC Justice Peace and Human Rights program director accompanied the MECC General Secretary, who shared afterwards with the Patriarchs a report on the follow-up by the JPHR Program of the project that came in response to a recommendation from the Heads of Churches to establish an observatory and a Forum for human rights in the Middle East, and which was approved by the Executive Committee in the Council. The report reflected the phases of implementation and the obstacles which delayed the mechanisms of implementation. The report also justified the reasons that were behind the delay in launching the Monitor.
The Seventh Interfaith Dialogue conference in Doha:
Under the title:” The Human Solidarity”, the Doha International Center for Inter-religious Dialogue held its seventh annual conference on 20-21 October 2009. The MECC General Secretary was invited to this meeting and was appointed reporter for the working groups on economic solidarity and the analysis of the religious causes of economic crisis and its implications.
The MECC Executive Committee member Syrian Orthodox Archbishop George Saliba of Mount Lebanon delivered a lecture on “Solidarity and integration in the face of natural disasters and famines in the world from a religious perspective”.
The MECC Honorary President Bishop John Qolta delivered a lecture on “The proposed religious solutions to defend the holy places”. The Council has been actively participated in these conferences and has contributed with several papers since the first conference.
Mr. Saleh, Archbishop Saliba with the Ex-Sudanese president Suar El Dhahab, Chairperson of the International Islamic Forum for dialogue and Dr. Hamid El-Rifai.
The deans of the theological seminaries in the Middle East convene at Saint Ephrem Monastery – Syria :
The Association of the Theological Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME) held its annual conference at St. Ephrem Syrian Orthodox Monastery in Maarrat Sednaya during the period from 29/10-31/10/2009. His Holiness Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for Syrian Orthodox hosted this meeting that was attended by representatives of the deans of the theological seminaries members of ATIME in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon. The meeting was chaired by Bishop Matthias the current president. Rev. Dr. Majdi Siddiq, the ATIME Executive Secretary and Mr. Guirges Saleh the MECC General Secretary participated in this meeting.
During the meeting the participants discussed the joint activities and the athletic and cultural events planned for next year in addition to the meting of professors. The Deans met with His Holiness Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas and the next meeting will hosted by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III at the Saint Mark Center, Nasr City- Cairo from 28/10 till 30/10/2010.
The Secretary-General and the MECC Cairo office staff with His Holiness Pope Shenouda III:
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria, Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, and Honorary President of the Council received Mr. Guirges Saleh and the MECC Cairo office staff on Wednesday November 25, 2009, to congratulate him on the thirty-eighth anniversary of his enthronement. His Holiness expressed his appreciation for the gesture in front of thousands attendees for his Wednesday open meeting
The Christmas Greetings:The MECC General Secretary, Mr. Guirges Saleh, accompanied H.H. Pope Shenouda III in his visits to greet the heads of Churches in Egypt in the occasion of Christmas. He visited H.H. Theodoros II, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and H. B. Antonios I Naguib, the Coptic Catholic Patriarch.
