PRO ORIENTE: New video of youth workshop in Jordan online
18 young adults from different churches met in the Jordanian capital Amman – program director Raheb: “Inspiring experience for the young people, as it was once again the first ecumenical experience for the majority”
Vienna/Amman, 06.08.24 Last June, an ecumenical youth workshop organized by the PRO ORIENTE Foundation took place in the Jordanian capital Amman, for the second time. 18 young adults from the Catholic, Greek Catholic, Chaldean, Anglican and Lutheran churches came together for two days. A new video produced during the workshop was posted online at the beginning of August and gives an impression of the youth meeting. The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/QNzn2Ot5HeI.
Viola Raheb, program director at PRO ORIENTE: “Once again, the workshop proved to be an inspiring experience for the young people, as it was the first ecumenical experience for the majority of them.” For many, the workshop “contributed to a better understanding of their own identity and to more respect for the other churches”. At the end of the workshop, the young people had reaffirmed their desire for more ecumenical encounters and cooperation, Raheb said with satisfaction: “They want to know more about and from each other.”
The workshop in Amman was conducted by Viola Raheb together with Fr. Rouphael Zgheib, Fr. George Kopti and John Daniel from the “We choose abundant life” group. Rafael Badr, priest and editor of the church information portal “abouna” (https://en.abouna.org/), was won as guest speaker, who gave a lecture on the topic “Media and their role in promoting ecumenical understanding”. Fr. Zgheib spoke on the topic “Receptive Ecumenism”. On the second day, participants of the first Jordanian PRO ORIENTE workshop reported on the ecumenical experiences they had gained through the workshops in both Jordan and Austria.
After the workshop, some of the young people participated in a Holy Mass in the Catholic parish of Fr. Badr, together with the entire team, and a service in the Anglican community of Amman. Fr. Rouphael Zgheib was invited as a guest preacher in both churches.
“The joint celebration of liturgies in the two churches was a living testimony of the common faith,” said PRO ORIENTE program director Viola Raheb. She added: “The reports of the experiences of former workshop participants are a testimony to the fact that our work with the young generation is bearing fruit. The participants are ambassadors for more ecumenism and for working together on the common path to unity in diversity.”
PRO ORIENTE youth workshops
In March 2022, PRO ORIENTE, in cooperation with the group “We Choose Abundant Life”, launched a project for the ecumenical training and further education of young Christians in the countries of the Middle East. In the first year, workshops were held in a total of six countries in the Middle East - Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Israel and Egypt.
In the context of the Middle East workshops, the young people, who are at home in different churches, reflected on the political, economic, social and ecclesial situation in their home countries and developed future scenarios for the church and society. Further workshops followed in 2023, including in Syria and Austria. In March 2024, another workshop took place in Austria, this time for young Christians from Oriental churches living in Europe. In April, PRO ORIENTE invited young people to another workshop in Egypt.