"We want a disarmed media, exuding love"

Following is a translation of the text of address delivered by Fr. Dr. Rif'at Bader, director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in Jordan, editor-in chief of en.abouna.org and abouna.org websites, and delegate of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Executive Committee for Media Affairs, during the press conference held by the MECC marking the launching its new satellite channel and radio station on June 9, 2025:

His Excellency Dr. Michel Abs, Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches,

Greetings to all the brothers and sisters present with you, and to the viewers,

On behalf of the executive committee, and in my capacity as representative for media affairs, I have the honor to extend my sincere congratulations and friendship to you on the great efforts exerted to continuously improve and develop the media tools available to the Churches of the Middle East.

In the past, we learned about a media committee affiliated with the esteemed MECC, and I have been following up the cultural committee, the spiritual committee, and the media committee for decades, in addition to the initiatives launched by the parishioners. Perhaps in the past years, we experienced some slackness and weakness in some committees, but it is fair to be said that since the assumption of His Excellency Dr. Michel Abs his duties, the Media Committee was re-launched. We have begun to notice in reality, not just in resounding speeches, but rather a plan to develop t media tools and methods which are inevitable.

Consequently, as we inaugurate today this new satellite channel--which is based on the prevailing cooperation between the MECC, Noursat TV, and Télé Lumière--this demonstrates the cooperation between the media institutions which we are proud to be a part of.

The media is the light, the "areopagus" from which the Church sends out her good news. The good news has two complementary facets. The first one is the proclamation of the good news and the proclamation of Christian values ​​in today's world. This is the Church's right, as Apostle Saint Paul says: "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!" Lord Jesus Christ sent his disciples, he sent them saying, “Go into the entire world and procliam the good news to the entire creation."

However, the second facet that complements the first one is the dialogue among the various sister churches, especially this year which marks the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and the declaration of faith that the churches jointly recite. This dialogue as well as through the brotherhood that prevails among ecclesial families--a term most appropriately used by our dear offices, "ecclesial families."

The late Pope Francis issued this year's message for the media, titled, "Be witnesses of hope in today's world through media," in which he calls for disarming of "words and media." In his first public audience with the current Pope, Leo XIV, he called for the same words: “Let us disarm words, and we will help disarm the world.”  Ultimately, this is what we want the Middle East Council of Churches to achieve.

Ultimately, we want to see Middle Eastern ecclesiastical media unity through cooperation between various media institutions.

I congratulate His Excellency Dr. Michel Abs on this achievement. I also congratulate our dear sister Mrs. Lea Mi'mari who played a prominent role in making this achievement a reality. We are fully prepared, whether in Jordan--here we live and which lives in us—or in the executive committee, which I am honored to represent before the Latin Church, to always have a presence by highlighting the various activities, reports, news, and various positions of the Church.