Christ is Risen!

In the year one thousand seven hundred after the Council of Unity, Your disciples, O Lord, have come in great numbers from every corner of the land of your incarnation, bearing witness to their unity and the strong bond that unites them, founded on the salvific faith that saves humanity from evil and sin.

Indeed, we, in the ecumenical body that brings together your Church in the Middle East, have united the faculties that teach your theology into a league that has taken upon itself the mission of uniting your Church in its own way, without erasing the unique diversified manifestations of your Church.

In the Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME), established by the Middle East Council of Churches, which has been a witness to the unity of your Church for over half a century, we are preparing generations inspired by unity in vision and method.

"That they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me." (John 17:21)

In Your name we have gathered, and continue to gather, living together a youthful, academic, theological experience, through which we prepare to enter the world of ecumenism, where we are called to work together to spread the faith that has saved humanity.

Through ATIME, future ministers learn how to work together, how to become united in vision and purpose, while each of us maintains the specific characteristics of the Christianity embraced by our civilization or nation. This creates a sense of appreciation for the components of a colleague’s faith and fosters brotherhood in faith.

Today’s ecumenical movement leaders in our region, headed by the Middle East Council of Churches, are graduates of this League, born in a blessed hour, ceased in an hour of abandonment, and revived in an hour of resolve. ATIME has become a furnace for ecumenical leadership, tasked with gathering God’s children, beloved of the Savior, into an interactive spiritual crucible that forms the nucleus of a future unified society. Ecumenism, in its longing for Christian unity, is ultimately a salvific project for all humanity.

Between the apostles’ preaching and today’s proclamation lies a path steeped in the blood of martyrs, adorned with heroism, enriched with patristic thought, and embellished with faithful hymns.

Your gathering today, in the seventeenth century after the Council of Nicaea, affirms that the testimony continues and that the fruitful vine is expanding to gradually cover the whole earth, through a modern ecumenical manifestation that allows Christian unity to take diverse forms without affecting the essence of the faith.

Be together in all you do. Share your intentions, support one another in your efforts, position yourselves in the best way to serve the salvific faith, complement each other in serving society, and be true witnesses to the True Teacher, the One who was incarnated for our salvation.

In the not-so-distant future, participate in ecumenical institutions and embrace both the large and small among your own. What matters is not size, but the role your institutions play and the impact they have on society, opening new paths in human, professional, and other relationships.

Be apostles of openness and dialogue. Engage in dialogue with great patience, embracing those who disagree with you. Difference of opinion does not ruin affection. Be apostles of humanity, for humanity is the child of love, a love that never fails and that defines the path of societal advancement. Be forgiving, for the One whose kingdom has no end forgave at the peak of His earthly agony on the cross. Let the Sermon on the Mount be your daily guide alongside the Holy Scriptures, and teach it to others, for it may contain guidance for a humanity that has strayed too far.

During your theological studies, add to the essential and critical ecumenical dimension the human dimension, which gives your mission the color of heaven. And remember that the human being is both spirit and matter, neither can be developed at the expense of the other, for such imbalance produces a distorted person.

In closing, I must pay tribute to the esteemed Archimandrite Dean Yacoub Khalil, President of ATIME, and Father Professor Mikhael Kanbar, ATIME’s Executive Secretary, and Father Professor Bassam Nassif, ATIME’s Associate Executive Secretary, for the tremendous efforts they have made to transform ATIME into a vibrant space of faith, one that forges, generation after generation, the future ministers who come from diverse backgrounds.

May the Lord bless you as leaders among the soldiers of heaven, walking in truth and knowledge. You have the full appreciation of the Middle East Council of Churches for the high quality of your performance, which stands as a model for those who will carry ATIME’s torch after you.

Truly He is Risen!