The Council of Eastern Catholic Patriarchs issued the following statement at the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke on Thursday, February 13, 2025:

The Council held an administrative meeting at 10:30am on Thursday, February 13, 2025, at the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke. Present at the meeting were H.B. Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, along with Their Beatitudes Patriarchs Mar Ignatius Joseph III Younan, Youssef Absi, and Raphael Bedros XXI Minassian. H.E. Bishop Michel Kassarji represented Patriarch Mar Louis Raphael Sako, and H.E. Bishop elect Iyad Twal represented H.B. Card. Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

Also in attendance were the Secretary-General of the Council, Abbot Khalil Alwan, Bishop Munir Khairallah, a member of the Synod in Rome, and Monsignor Habib Mourad.

The attendees addressed the following topics:

• Father Elie Kanbar, Coordinator of the Ecumenical Joint Christian Education Committee, presented a report on the committee’s work and recommended that the Patriarchs adopt this unified educational curriculum in all Middle Eastern countries.
• The attendees discussed several recommendations from the Roman Synod regarding the Eastern Churches, including:
• Extending the spiritual authority of the Eastern Catholic Churches over all their faithful in diaspora countries.
• Attending to the needs of the poor in our countries in light of recent disasters and the rapid political changes.
• Strengthening the relationship between the Holy See and the Eastern Catholic Churches and exploring ways to benefit from it.

The meeting concluded with a luncheon at the patriarchal seat.

Father Khalil Alwan, M.L.
Secretary-General