BEIRUT – Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai warned that the Christian presence in the Middle East is declining and that church leaders “must face the winds blowing in our homelands. “
The assessment of the patriarch of Maronite Catholics at an assembly of the Executive Committee of the Council of Churches of the Middle East on 18 September highlighted the terrible confrontation of Christians in this tumultuous region.
“The sending threatened through the winds and waves” that sinks symbolizes “the witness church at sea of our Middle Eastern countries convulsed by the winds of shock and wars, political, economic, monetary and livelihood crises, and the crown epidemic,” Rai says. .
The cardinal also explained at the assembly he organized in Bkerke, the Maronite patriarchy north of Beirut, that the risk “reached its climax” in Lebanon with the catastrophic double explosion at Beirut Harbor on August 4. The crisis killed nearly 200 people, wounded another 6,000 and displaced more than 300,000 people.
He that the MECC is called in this troubled time cadres with churches and their leaders, establishments and religious “to face the waves and winds that ravage their homeland . . . with positions of religion and hope. “
“We ask you, Lord, through the intercession of our Virgin Mother Mary, the star of the sea in the storm, to take our countries of origin, our churches and our people to port,” Rai pleaded.
In its final statement, the MECC reiterated its call to end “destructive wars and conflicts in the Middle East, human dignity and to build peace on the basis of justice and rights”.
Participants in the assembly expressed their “deep solidarity” with the Lebanese in the “catastrophic tragedy” they are suffering as a result of Beirut’s explosions. They called for continuing “ecumenical ecclesiastical efforts with all local, regional and foreign partners to eliminate the mental impact of this tragedy. “
They also sympathized with all those affected by the coronavirus pandemic, especially those who have lost their enjoyment, thanked the medical and humanitarian aid groups and trusted their continued prayers for the end of the pandemic.
The members of the committee elected Michel Abs as Secretary General of the MECC, Abs succeeds Souraya Bechealany and Father Melkita Gabriel Hachem, who is director of Theology and Ecumenical of the MECC, has been elected Under-Secretary-General.
MECC follows the tradition of electing its Secretary-General every 4 years from another Christian rite. Ab is Greek Orthodox. Bechealany is a Maronite Catholic and the first woman to hold the executive position.
The Executive Committee of the MECC brought together Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant representatives. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the three-day meeting schedule has been reduced to one day with members of Egypt, Kuwait, Palestinian territory, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran. Cyprus joining electronically.
Iraqi Cardinal Louis Sako, Patriarch of Chaldean Catholics and President of the Council of Catholic Churches of the MECC, participated remotely from Baghdad, as did Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II of Cairo, Egypt.
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