On Friday 16 November 2012, the Heads of 22 Christian communities, established in the countries of the Gulf region, visited His Holiness Aram I. Bishop Shahé Panossian, the Pontifical Delegate of the Catholicosate of Cilicia for the Gulf countries, accompanied the delegation.
The representatives were in Lebanon upon the invitation of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) to discuss the creation of an Inter-Church cooperation committee in the Gulf. Mrs. Seta Hadeshian, the director of the MECC Department, Diakonia and Development, introduced the representatives and said that the group had come to meet His Holiness, a President of the MECC, a church leader and experienced ecumenist.
Catholicos Aram I welcomed the project and said that the churches, as the Body of Christ, are organically linked and should work together because ecumenism is an essential part of the vocation of the Church. His Holiness Aram I cautioned the guests to be attentive to local religious, political and social customs of their new countries because any misunderstanding might put local churches in a difficult situation.