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International Ecumenical Relations Email: mecc@cyberia.net.lb October, 2007
On the Way to Paphos/MECC 9th Assembly The MECC is busy with the final preparations for its 9th General Assembly which will take place in St. George Hotel, in the town of Paphos/Cyprus (26 – 30 November). The agenda of Assembly will include a report from the General Secretary, reports of the Units and Departments for the past four years, business sessions of election of the General Secretary, the election of the Presidents, as well as the appointment of the new Executive Committee members who will be meeting right after the Assembly. The Assembly will have a half day of reporting and in depth discussions regarding the restructuring of the Council. Hundred and twenty persons are expected to attend the Assembly including Patriarchs (Heads of Churches), sixty four representatives of member churches (Eastern Orthodox – Oriental Orthodox – Catholic – Evangelicals) who are eligible for voting, as well as guests, international partners and media personnel. The Assembly have chosen the theme from 2 Corinthians 5:20 “So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us”, which will be reflected in morning prayers and Bible reflections. Since its establishment in 1974, the Council is representing the ecumenical movement in the Middle East and became an instrument for churches to witness their unity in diversity. The MECC website: www.mec-churches.org will report on daily basis the events of the Assembly.
Assembly’s Moto
The Holy Pontiff of Rome named Patriarch Dalli of the Chaldean Church as Cardinal The Holy Pontiff of Rome His Holiness Pope Benedictos named His Beatitude Patriarch Emanuel Dalli of the Chaldean Catholic church as “Cardinal”. This step was considered by many Catholic churches as a unique jest from the Holy Pontiff for Christians in Iraq, and represents an appreciation for the efforts that the Patriarch is bringing about peace. Patriarch Cardinal Dalli is residing in Iraq and he is the Head Spiritual leader of the biggest Christian Community in Iraq. The MECC General Secretary congratulated His Beatitude in a special letter on this consecration, and wishes that peace may prevail soon in Iraq.
MECC General Secretary Congratulated Muslims on Fitr Islamic Feast After the fasting month of Ramadan, Muslims celebrated the feast of “Fitr”. On this occasion, the MECC General Secretary issued a statement, in which he congratulated Muslims all over the Islamic world on this feast, and stressed on the importance of maintaining values of coexistence and tolerance as a good example for the world to live.
MECC Director of Amman Office meets with NCA Director The Director of MECC Amman office met with Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) Head Quarter Staff and the Finance Manager on Oct. 4th. The discussion was about MECC latest activities in Jordan, the preparations for the General Assembly, and exchange information about the work with Iraqi Refugees. For further information contact Ms Wafa Ghousous: wafa_mecc@go.com.jo
NCA Delegation’s visit to Syria Between (6 – 9 October), a delegation from the Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) visited Syria aiming at learning about churches in Syria and the situation of Iraqi refugees. The delegation met with Heads of Churches, church leaders, Iraqi Christian families who thanked the Syrian Government for hosting them and talked about their sufferings being forced to be displaced from their home country. The NCA supports a project for Iraqis in Syria. The MECC office in Damascus facilitated the program of the visit. For further information contact Mr Samer Laham and Mr Razek Siriani: laham-s@scs-net.org, rsiriani@scs-net.org
MECC Offices in Syria Distributed Food Relief Items to Iraqis During the first week of October, the MECC offices in Syria implemented the first phase of distributing food relief items to Iraqi refugees’ families in the areas of Damascus, Damascus suburbs, and Aleppo. The (1500) boxes contained (15) food items of different materials such as: sugar, rice, tomato past, cooking oil, tea etc… The relief food distribution was a project supported by “Diakonie” organization in Germany. The MECC offices in Syria will carry a second phase of distribution of food relief to Iraqi families during the month of November and it is supported by ACT.
Annual Ecumenical Women Seminar in Syria The Women Program in Syria held its annual seminar at St Thomas Catholic Retreat House – Saydnaya near Damascus (3 – 7 October). Fifty five women attended the seminar under the theme “women and men are partners in decision making”. Women discussed the participation of women in decision making at the personal level and in society. For further information contact: rsiriani@scs-net.org, chiniara@scs-net.org
7th Christian-Muslim Youth Seminar in Jordan Under the theme: “Christian & Muslim Youth between Religious Commitment and Changing Culture”, the MECC General Secretariat office in cooperation with the Unit on Education & Renewal organized in Amman – Jordan the 7th Christian-Muslim Youth Seminar (17 – 21 October). Forty five Christian and Muslim, young women and men from Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon met to further enhance their learning about each others religion, build bridges of trust, understanding, respect and tolerance, and establish a network of communication and flow of information. Since four years, the MECC is investing in bringing young Christians and Muslims in a sort of dialogue about common issues of social and religious concerns. The MECC is committed to further develop a young generation who carries the values of tolerance, acceptance and respect. A final communiqué was produced at the end of the seminar. For further information contact: wafa_mecc@go.com.jo, shaher.luka@gmail.com, rsiriani@scs-net.org
Christian-Muslim Youth Encounter in Amman-Jordan 2007
Catholic Churches Agreed on a Joint Human Right Forum with MECC The “Council of Catholic Churches in the Middle East” convened in Lebanon (15 – 19 October) under the theme: “Blessed are those who make peace”. The Council studied in depth documents on the Christian presence in the Middle East within the political and religious conflicts that the region is undertaking, and other related spiritual and pastoral issues affiliated to the mission of the Catholic churches. The MECC General Secretary Mr Guirgis Saleh and Ms Alexa Abi-Habib the coordinator of the Human Rights Program were present during the session on ecumenical relations. The MECC prepared and presented a project to the Catholic Council on establishing a joint “Christian Forum on Human Rights”. The Heads of the Catholic churches and their Council encouraged and approved the establishment of such an important “Forum” in cooperation with MECC because it will ultimately help and advocate for peace and stability. For further information contact:guirgissaleh@cyberia.net.lb,mecccypr@spidernet.com.cy
Church Leaders Condemn the Killing of a Palestinian Christian in Gaza As leaders of the Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical (Lutheran and Anglican) Churches, we condemn with deep sorrow the deliberate murder of Mr. Rami Ayyad. Mr. Ayyad, a Christian, used to work at the Palestinian Bible Society bookshop which was burned six weeks ago by unidentified gunmen. This tragic incident is the first of its kind. We appreciate the Islamic, and National leaderships that joined us in condemning this terrible crime. At the same time, we remind all to continue to pay serious attention to the overwhelming daily escalation of human rights' abuses that hurts the whole Palestinian Society, both Muslims and Christians. We call on all to unite as one and resist this and all kinds of extremism and to commit to learn together as faithful Christians and Muslims to respect one another. We also request the relevant authorities to take all necessary measures in bringing the attackers to justice and end such atrocities. Finally, we ask God to strengthen the efforts to build peace and stability so that we can achieve security, justice and independence for all in this troubled region. To this end, we pray for the protection of our people and an end to the embargo and isolation of Gaza that is threatening the well-being of the entire area.
Text copied from resource: Mr Yusef Daher, Executive Secretary of Jerusalem Inter-Church Centre (JIC): yusf66jrs@yahoo.com
A delegation from the Church of Sweden visited Syria & Jordan Three persons from the Church of Sweden: Rev Kjell Jonasson Associate Executive Secretary and Liaison Officer with MECC and WCC; Carolina Grelsson, Programme Officer for Humanitarian Assistance, Thomas; a press officer; visited Syria and Jordan between 22 – 26th of October. The visit aimed at learning about the situation of Iraqi refugees in these two countries. In Syria, the delegation met with many Iraqi Christian families, listened to their sad stories and sufferings, witnessed the distribution of food items, and met with MECC officers and other organizations that are providing the facilitation for the relief. In Jordan, the delegation met with MECC office Director in Amman, Caritas officers and Iraqi families at the Syrian Orthodox Church. The MECC and the CS delegation agreed on furthering the advocacy work on Iraqi Christian refugees For further information contact: laham-s@scs-net.org, rsiriani@scs-net.org,
Church of Sweden’s Delegation in Syria
MECC office in Amman received a delegation from PCUSA On the 25th October the MECC Amman office received a delegation from the Presbyterian Church of USA. The delegation was informed about the work of MECC in Jordan and the situation of Iraqis. For further information contact: wafa_mecc@go.com.jo
MECC Life & Service Director becomes a member on ACT – SDSG The Action by Churches Together (ACT) has approved the nomination of Mrs Seta Hadeshian (Director of the Unit on Life & Service) to be a Middle East representative on the ACT Alliance Capacity Development Steering Group for 2008 – 2009. The MECC congratulates Mrs Hadeshian on this selection.
Ecumenical Christian Pilgrimage to Antioch Churches in Aleppo – Syria are organizing an ecumenical pilgrimage to Antioch on the 27th of October to celebrate the 1700 years memorial on the death of St John the Chrysostomos. The pilgrimage which will be headed by some church leaders and with the participation of no less than 1500 faithful Christians from different denominations, will reach Antioch (South Turkey), have an ecumenical worship, and see the place where St John used to live and did his Christian mission. The Pilgrimage is part of series of activities that churches together carried during 2007 including lectures, seminars, exhibitions, dramas and establishing a special website for the occasion: www.johnchrysostom.com
5th Ecumenical Training Seminar on Nursing The Unit on Life & Service and in cooperation with the local Committee on Health in Egypt organized the fifth training seminar on skills of nursing under the theme: “Improving the Efficiency of Nursing in all its Specialization”, (18 – 21/10/2007). The training seminar tackled issues related to theme such as: nursing the mother after delivery, new medial inventions for nursing, and the ethics of nursing…The (120) participants represented (14) regions in Egypt. For further information contact: meccls@cyberia.net.lb
Reception of Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) The General Secretary and some MECC senior staff met in Beirut office (26 October) with the President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Interim Dean of the Lexington Theological Seminary, and the Executive Secretary for Middle Eat and Europe in the Global Ministries. The one hour meeting informed the group about the work and activities of MECC and discussed briefly the challenges.
MECC General Secretary is welcoming the President of the Disciples of Christ’s Church
Christian Education in Syria The Unit on Life and Service/Human Resource Development (HRD) Program organized a training workshop in Damascus/Syria (25 – 27/October/2007) on “Christian Education – Towards its Comprehensiveness”. The workshop targeted (46) Sunday Scholl teachers, religious educators, Priests and Pastors. The workshop through its introductory sessions enlightened the participants about new theories of education and its responsibilities. Through workshops, group discussions, and role playing participants were trained on new methodologies of cooperative and effective learning, and on skills of dialogue and problem solving. Or further information contact: meccls@cyberia.net.lb
Ecumenical Day of Prayer for Youth On the 30th of October, the Youth Program in Egypt organized the annual ecumenical day of prayer for young people and under the theme: “No for Fundamentalism”. Young participants prayed for peace and refused acts of fundamentalism. For further information contact: jouna@link.net
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