|
|
|
|
|
Launching of the Satellite and Radio Broadcast of MECC
|
|
|
|
In celebration of the Blessed Feast of Pentecost, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) held a press conference to launch its new TV and Radio Stations. It will serve as an Ecumenical platform bringing together the various Church Families in the region, and a humanitarian voice speaking in the name of truth, dignity, and justice.
The conference took place on Monday, June 9, 2025, live from the "Platform of the Word" at the offices of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut, with an online participation of Father Rifaat Bader, the Head of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media and Publisher of Abouna Website, and Delegate of the MECC Executive Committee for the Media Affairs, Dr. Jean Salmanian, Member of the MECC Executive Committee, as well as the MECC General Secretariat team.
|
|
|
A weekly program featuring spiritual, cultural, intellectual, youthful and environmental, segments, produced by the Middle East Council of Churches.
Watch it and listen to it, every Tuesday, via the MECC Satellite and Radio Broadcast, at the following times:
MECC FM: 10 am Beirut time
MECC TV: 4:10 pm Beirut time
|
|
|
A program that raises issues related to the family, motherhood, and childhood, in addition to the Church’s view and response to challenges, especially in light of the difficult living conditions the region is passing through.
Watch it daily via the MECC Satellite Broadcast at 4:15pm Beirut Time.
|
|
|
From the Archive of the Launching of "The Platform of the Word" at MECC
|
|
|
|
Produced Episodes, Videos and Reports
|
|
|
|
Learn About the Lives of Some Saints, Produced by the MECC Communication and Media Department
|
|
|
Home Care Services Platform
at the Middle East Council of Churches
|
|
|
|
*Home care services are available at reasonable and discounted prices.
|
|
|
A Series of Awareness Episodes
Produced by the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)
|
|
|
Ecclesiastical Feats and International Days
|
|
|
|
Donald Trump’s imposition of Tariffs on the world in an attempt to close the United States' trade deficit. Unfortunately, this included the Middle East and North Africa, and therefore will have negative repercussions on the trade of these countries. Countries in the region were divided into two categories: Low and High tariffs. Countries in the High category include Algeria, Iraq, Occupied Palestine, Jordan, Libya, Syria and Tunisia. As for countries in the low category include, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey, the UAE and Yemen. It will be quite interesting how countries will react to this move and what policies or new course of actions they will undertake.
|
|
|
|
|
Secretary General Message
|
|
|
|
Professor Michel Abs
Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches
09.06.2025 – Press Conference for the Launch of Satellite Broadcasting
In the era of knowledge, the true power of humanity, communication and media are the primary tools for spreading this knowledge to people, thus combating ignorance and obscurantism, which lead to various social ills such as fanaticism, racism, prejudice, and hate speech.
In this era of knowledge, which both drives and benefits from technological advancement, it is unacceptable for people, not anyone, to be unaware of the affairs of life, each according to their field or interest.
The responsibility of disseminating knowledge is a supreme and serious one. Sociology recognizes that the media today surpasses parents, schools, and institutions in shaping and spreading values within society, making its role in socialization central, a value-shaping force.
This is where the danger of media misinformation lies, which is considered a crime punishable by the world’s laws, for manipulating minds and distorting facts are intellectual crimes no less serious than legally recognized offenses.
On the other hand, as a social researcher before being an ecumenical leader, I consider that hiding knowledge by withholding information constitutes an implicit crime, and at times an actual one, if it leads to harm or damage. Thus, the responsibility to transmit and broadcast knowledge, for the benefit of all, is a human, national, and religious duty.
How many decisions have been unjust, incomplete, or misplaced due to a lack of information?
How much waste occurs in human life because of incomplete knowledge in a given field?
In modern times, media is the primary means of transmitting knowledge to society, participating in the formation of public opinion—which is often misled—and thus helping society make major choices.
On the religious level, with religion being a foundational element in society and its value system, media has become the primary tool for spreading doctrine and religious thought, in addition to its role in introducing people to religious culture and traditions. We now see the depth and scope of the religious dimension across all media: satellite channels, radio, internet, and social media. It is also important to note the significance of the audiobook, which is widely used as a tool for religious education, with people listening during long trips...
|
|
|
|
Weekly Prayer
|
|
Following the devastating earthquake that struck the North of the Antiochian Levant, let us join hands and support the MECC appeal in order to bring back hope and joy to the hearts of the needy and heart broken people in Syria.
For donation, you can click on the following link: https://donate.mecc.org/project/rescue-syria-campaign.
For more information about the MECC relief work in Syria and the humanitarian circumstances in the country, you can visit the following link: https://www.mecc.org/syr-ar.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly General Audience and reflects on the Gospel account of the healing of the blind man who cried out to Jesus and began to follow Him after his sight was restored.
By Christopher Wells
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV used his catechesis at Wednesday’s General Audience to highlight “another essential aspect of the life of Jesus, namely, His healings.”
The Holy Father reflected on the Gospel account of the healing of a blind man, Bartimaeus, who cried out to Jesus as He passed through the city of Jericho on the way to Jerusalem.
|
|
|
Jn 16:12-15
In today’s Gospel passage (Jn 16:12-15), we hear that when Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit. He repeats a somewhat strange expression twice. For he says that the Spirit “will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn 16:14,15).
To understand what Jesus is trying to tell us with this expression, let’s take a step back and come to an Old Testament passage where we see an opposite situation to what Jesus is talking about...
|
|
|
During the Mass for the Solemnity of Pentecost, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV recalls how the Holy Spirit accomplished 'something extraordinary' in the lives of the Apostles, and suggests that today, the Holy Spirit likewise descends upon us, ready to shatter our inner chains, fears, and hardened hearts, to make us new.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
"Today, too, what took place in the Upper Room takes place anew in our midst. Like a mighty wind that overtakes us, like a crash that startles us, like a fire that illuminates us, the gift of the Holy Spirit descends upon us."
|
|
|
“Your Eminences,
Your Graces,
Dear Archimandrite Vassian,
Dear Fathers,
Beloved Monastics,
Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
We greet you with great joy on this blessed feast, when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit.
As we keep this feast we recall some words of a beautiful prayer to the Holy Spirit of Saint Simeon the New Theologian:
Come, true light.
Come, life eternal.
Come, Alone to the alone.
Come, for you are yourself the desire that is within me.
Come, my breath and my life.
Come, the consolation of my humble soul.
Come, my joy, my glory, my endless delight.
We rejoice today in the gift of the Holy Spirit, for it is by the gift of the Holy Spirit that the Church is grounded and maintained in unity.
The Holy Spirit has sustained and guarded the institution of the Church and the unity of the faithful in our common Orthodox faith from the first Pentecost in this Holy City...
|
|
|
On Sunday, 26 May / 8 June 2025, the Patriarchate celebrated the Sunday of Pentecost, in accordance with the Book of Pentecostarion, as the day commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the holy Disciples and Apostles of Christ. On this day, through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles spoke “in other tongues the wonderful works of God” to the multitudes who had heard the mighty wind of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, believed, and were baptised—those who were added to the Church on that very day, about “three thousand souls” (Acts 2:1–41).
|
|
|
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark made a phone call this evening to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV of the Vatican to congratulate him on his new responsibility and his election as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
During the call, both leaders affirmed the continued relationship of love and the annual celebration of the Day of Brotherly Love between the two Churches. The conversation also touched upon the suffering of the people of Gaza due to the aggressive war and humanitarian famine, stressing the urgent need for an immediate end to the assaults.
|
|
|
On June 10, 2025, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the World, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), visited the construction site of St. Shemoun d-Zayte in Boros and inspected the ongoing work of construction of the new building for the Church.
His Holiness was accompanied by their Eminences Archbishops: Mor Youhanon Lahdo, Archbishop of Sweden and Scandinavia, and Mor Augeen Al-Khoury Nemat, Patriarchal Secretary.
|
|
|
On June 9, 2025, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the World, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), presided over the Ramsho Prayer at St. Gabriel Church in Gotenberg.
His Holiness was accompanied by their Eminences Archbishops: Mor Youhanon Lahdo, Archbishop of Sweden and Scandinavia, and Mor Augeen Al-Khoury Nemat, Patriarchal Secretary.
|
|
|
On June 8, 2025, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the World, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), presided over the Ramsho Prayer at St. Gabriel Church in Norrkoping.
His Holiness was accompanied by their Eminences Archbishops: Mor Youhanon Lahdo, Archbishop of Sweden and Scandinavia, and Mor Augeen Al-Khoury Nemat, Patriarchal Secretary.
|
|
|
At the conclusion of the 2024-2025 academic year of the Armenian Theological Seminary, a gathering was held to celebrate the successful culmination of the academic year as well as the ordination of one of its graduates. This event took place on June 8, 2025, at the fratery, presided over by His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), with the Cilician Brotherhood and the seminary community in attendance.
|
|
|
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV meets with his Pontifical Representatives across the globe, and urges them to bear witness to the Church’s love for the world and her desire to do anything possible to stand on the side of those in need.
By Devin Watkins
Apostolic Nuncios and other papal representatives deployed throughout the world met with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican on Tuesday.
As other Popes have done at their first meeting with their diplomatic representatives, His Holiness Pope Leo gifted each with a ring symbolizing their bond to the Successor of Peter, which bears the inscription “sub umbra Petri”.
|
|
|
On June 8, 2025, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the World, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), celebrated the Holy Qurobo on the occasion of the Feast of the Pentecost at St. Mary Church in Orebro.
His Holiness was assisted by their Eminences Archbishops: Mor Dioscorus Benjamin Atas, Patriarchal Vicar in Sweden, Mor Youhanon Lahdo, Archbishop of Sweden and Scandinavia, and Mor Augeen Al-Khoury Nemat, Patriarchal Secretary.
|
|
|
On June 7, 2025, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the World, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), consecrated St. Matta Church in Halmstadt - Sweden.
His Holiness was assisted by their Eminences Archbishops: Mor Dioscorus Benjamin Atas, Patriarchal Vicar in Sweden, Mor Youhanon Lahdo, Archbishop of Sweden and Scandinavia, Mor Timotheos Mousa Al-Shamani, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of the Monastery of Mor Matta, and Mor Augeen Al-Khoury Nemat, Patriarchal Secretary.
|
|
|
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for officials of the Roman Curia on the Jubilee of the Holy See, and recalls that the Apostolic See draws its fruitfulness from Jesus Christ and the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
By Devin Watkins
As the Church marks the Jubilee of the Holy See, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV spent Monday morning with employees and officials of the Roman Curia.
The Jubilee began with a meditation offered by Sr. Maria Gloria Riva, a Sister of the Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady. The Pope then carried a Jubilee cross and led a procession of Holy See officials through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
|
|
|
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV meets with participants in the Symposium “Nicaea and the Church of the Third Millennium: Towards Catholic-Orthodox Unity," and highlights the many aspects that unite Christians, as the Church celebrates the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
"The Council of Nicaea is not merely an event of the past but a compass that must continue to guide us towards the full visible unity of all Christians."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
