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اجتماع اللجنة التنفيذيّة لمجلس كنائس الشرق الأوسط - آذار 2008 The Middle East Council of Churches Executive Committee Meeting - March 2008 |
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Final Statement
The Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches held, on 5 and 6 March 2008, its second meeting since the meeting of the Ninth General Assembly in Cyprus. This meeting was presided by the four Presidents of the Council representing the four families of Churches of which the Council is formed, and they are: Catholicos Aram I for the Oriental Orthodox Family, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem for the Orthodox Family, Maronite Archbishop of Beirut Boulos Matar for the Catholic Family and Head of the Evangelical Church in Egypt Rev. Dr. Safwat el Bayadi for the Evangelical Family. Present also were all the members of the Executive Committee. The participants adopted a number of decisions and administrative directives aiming to deepen the Church communion in the council and to confirm the Council’s role in serving the Churches and society as a whole. As a result of the discussions and exchange of views, the participants issued the following statement: The Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches strongly denounces the activities perpetrated by the Israeli authorities in the Holy Land and Gaza Strip, and calls for stopping them immediately, for the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and from starting negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian National Authority with the aim of reaching of a just and permanent political solution that ensures the formation of a Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital.
The Executive Committee also expresses its denial of the atrocities that take place in the beloved Iraq, whether by the occupying forces or the terrorist groups, and that causes the death of many and destroy all aspects of life in Iraq.
In face of the wounded Iraq, the Executive Committee does not forget to confirm its condemnation and denial of the ugly act of kidnapping of which Bishop Boulos Rahhou of Mousol was a victim, and calls on the Iraqi authorities to deploy all possible efforts for the quick release and liberation of Bishop Rahhou.
And while asking God for the return of security and stability in Lebanon, the Executive Committee calls all the Lebanese parties to quickly reach the political agreement in order to pass from the state of worry and dispersion that Lebanon is living now to the state of peace and prosperity.
The Committee concluded its meeting by presenting its thanks to H.H. Catholicos Aram I for the generous hospitality His Holiness has provided for the Executive Committee meeting.
Guirgis Ibrahim Saleh General Secretary The Middle East Council of Churches 6/3/2008
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