A letter from Doug Dicks in Jordan
July 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
On April 26, and under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)'s Amman Liaison office hosted the official opening of a new office in the heart of Amman that will serve as the Jordan office for His Beatitude Patriarch Theopilos III of Jerusalem. This new office will also be the home and host of the Middle East Council of Churches' Amman Liaison office.
Ms. Wafa Goussous, Director of the Amman Liaison office of the Middle East Council of Churches
In her opening remarks Ms. Wafa Goussous, MECC director of the Amman office, welcomed the distinguished guests, which included ambassadors, senators, patriarchs, priests, and laity. She stated that it was a great honor that she was entrusted to be the director of the Middle East Council of Churches' Jordan office. She concluded her remarks by welcoming to the podium Father Dr. Paul Rouhanna, the new General Secretary of the MECC.
An important milestone in the history of the ecumenical movement in the Middle East was realized with the establishment of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) in 1974 as the successor to the largely Protestant and Episcopal Near East Council of Churches.
The MECC is organized along the lines of “families” of churches, rather than on the basis of individual church membership. Three families—the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant/Episcopal families—were founding members. In 1988 the seven Catholic churches of the region (from different ethnic and cultural origins) decided to join, and in 1990 they were unanimously received into the MECC membership as the fourth family of churches. Today virtually all Middle Eastern Christian “families” are now represented in the MECC.
The Christian communities of the Middle East are heirs to a unique, Christian heritage that has been shaped throughout the centuries through a long experience of interacting with many significant and ancient cultures.
The continuity of a vital, Christian presence in the Middle East is of concern to many. Middle Eastern Christians have been witnessing to the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the land where our Lord was born and lived, died and resurrected since the first Pentecost.
The overarching goal of the council is Christian Unity—unity in diversity.
His Beatitude Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, greeted the gathering of distinguished guests in his opening remarks with the words “Christ is Risen!”
The gathering was highlighted by a visit of His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad, cousin of His Majesty King Abdallah II of Jordan and special envoy to the Christian communities.
His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad speaks with church leaders from Jerusalem and Jordan
His Beatitude thanked His Highness for what he called the prince's “wise words” at the United Nations during World Interfaith Harmony Week, and quoted him by saying “the misuse of abuse of religions can be a cause of world strife, whereas religions should be a great foundation for facilitating world peace. The remedy for this problem can only come from the world's religions themselves. Religions must be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”
On September 23, 2010, King Abdullah II of Jordan proposed a World Interfaith Harmony week to the U.N. General Assembly.
On October 20, 2010, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, who serves as the Personal Envoy and Special Advisor of His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, presented the proposal—having conceived and written the draft resolution—before the U.N. General Assembly's 34th plenary meeting in New York, where it was unanimously adopted.
The prince's speech continues to serve as a powerful call to those who love God and love the neighbor, or the good and the neighbor, and is a call to coordinate and concentrate their activities in a more effective way.
World Interfaith Harmony Week will fall on the first week of February every year. Its purpose is the promotion of interfaith harmony between religious and spiritual congregations the world over.
His Beatitude went on to say that the Middle East Council of Churches must realize its ecumenical destiny of being the instrument to mobilize the churches of the region, and to provide the right grounding for relationships with fellow citizens and the rest of the world.
In that regard, His Beatitude stated that the opening of the Amman office is more than timely, not only because of the rapid and unexpected developments in the region but also because “we understand the chief purposes of this office to be threefold:
- to work to remove the obstacles to our common witness;
- to encourage genuine respect and understanding between churches and Christian communities, and between Christians and members of our faiths; and
- to serve the needs of the Orthodox family of churches within the Council.”
He concluded his remarks by reminding us that “the Orthodox Church is the oldest continuous religious institution in the region, so we have grown up in a unique, cultural context of symbiosis, and therefore we understand the complexities of the multicultural and multifaith inheritance that is ours.”
Sincerely yours,
Doug
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 300
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