The churches in Lebanon and the Middle East Council of Churches are pleased to welcome the International Ecumenical Youth Meeting with the Taizé community from Friday 22 March to Tuesday 26 March 2019 in Beirut. One thousand six hundred young people between 18 and 35 years of age are expected from Lebanon, the Middle East and various countries in the world. The theme of the event is ‘The Righteous Shall Grow Like a Cedar of Lebanon’ (Psalm 92:12).
The Organizers:
This event is taking shape due to the encouragement of the Taize community and the support of the Middle East Council of Churches. The Taize community is an ecumenical monastic community in France. For more than fifty years, the community founded by Brother Roger has been welcoming young people from all over the world for weekly gatherings, encouraging them to unite and develop an inner life of prayer with human solidarity. In the early 80s, after Brother Roger’s visit to Lebanon, the Taize Community launched a “Pilgrimage of Trust Across the Earth” with gatherings in Europe and all the continents. Recently, and thanks to increased contact with Christians from the Middle East, the connection has become stronger and the idea of organizing an ecumenical youth event in Lebanon was born. The various churches of Lebanon welcomed the idea and adopted it as well as the Middle East Council of Churches. Representatives from all recognized churches in Lebanon are actively working together to organize the event.
Objectives
Young people from Lebanon, the Middle East and beyond will meet for three days of sharing.
The objectives are:
- To deepen our faith as well as build friendships through common prayer and shared a reading of the Bible
- To introduce the international youth to the rich tradition of Eastern and Oriental churches.
- To highlight the richness of the ecumenical relations that already exist in Lebanon and allow participants of other countries to discover it.
- To listen to the long experience of coexistence of Christians in Lebanon with the various Muslim communities.
- To introduce young people from elsewhere to the beauty of Lebanon.