The Catholic Center for Studies and Media (CCSM) in Jordan marks its sixth anniversary on April 25. The CCSM was launched on April 25, 2012 to serve as a media arm for the Latin Patriarchate, and to function in an ecumenical atmosphere designed to serve all the Churches as well as to promote affiliation to homeland and humanity.

Considering the achievements attained over the past years, one may realize the extent of progress attained in CCSM’s performance and popularity. The CCSM focused on disseminating true pieces of news without being attracted to the numerous “contemporary” media trends that follow demeaning quality of pieces of news. With its unstinting endeavour to defend the dignity of humanity, the CCSM slogan follows the model presented by Pope Francis in his message for World Communication Day 2018 which says, “No to be driven to false news. Yes to media that serves peace.”

Over the past year, the CCSM has conducted several local and Arab conferences and participated in several international initiatives as well as local workshops focusing on the youth perusing higher education, especially with regards to using social media in the service of the culture of encounter, which is a term dearly used by the Church nowadays.

The joint Islamic-Christian celebration of the Annunciation, that has taken place for the first time in Jordan, was a new CCSM landmark which excluded complimentary dialogue but focused on encounter based on the content of the Holy Bible and the Noble Koran, particularly with reference to Virgin Mary who is glorified in holy books.

One of the most remarkable moments was the establishment of the CCSM Council of Consultants which was marked by a special celebration patronized by Most Rev. Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The role the council president and members became evident in the CCSM’s handling of political crises and other relevant issues.

As the time we celebrate the CCSM’s sixth anniversary, we also mark the 15th anniversary of the launching of the Arabic-language website www.abouna.org and the 5th anniversary of the launching of the English-language website en.abouna.org, as well as the unstinting efforts exerted on twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, together with live television coverage aired through advanced outlets.

As we thank the Almighty God for the CCSM’s outstanding performance, and dedicate the new year to Jerusalem for which the CCSM covered several protests relevant to the unilateral decisions that will not change the status quo of the holiest city in the world. We thank our friends and those who follow up our activities as well as those who make constructive criticism, albeit it seems sometimes unfair and prejudiced. We promise to provide further qualitative work to our society and the world.

We also thank our partners who provided us this year with their material and moral support. We also thank the reporters, writers, photographers and readers. We pride ourselves this year for having signed two cooperation agreements. The first one was with the American University of Madaba designed to further cultural and educational cooperation, and the second one with Caritas Jordan which is proceeding with firm steps to serve both the forcibly displaced and the homeless people.

The CCSM participated in publishing a new English-language book by the renowned researcher in the field of religions, Rula Samain, relevant to the sublime "Jordanian message" in the field of Islamic and Christian openness and encounter titled, “Fortress of Peace”. Work is under way to issue the Arabic-language version of the book. I would like to thank the chairman and members of the Council of Consultants who will provide the CCSM this year with their unlimited expertise and wisdom.

We are also pleased to announce that this year's journalist is Rafi Sabegh of Qamishli, who posted several articles on abouna's website and showed that hope is the characteristic of the man who has faith and looks forward to a secure future by relying on great mercy of the Lord and the cooperation of people of good will. Thanks and appreciations go this year to journalist Rafi Sabegh. We express our sincere love to him and to the fraternal people of Syria.

Happy anniversary.