By Damian Avevor
13 July 2016
Most Rev. Emmanuel Badejo, Chairman of the Pan-African Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS) of the Symposium of Episcopal conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), has called on Catholic Communicators in Africa to ensure that the voice of the African Church was heard in the Universal Church.
He said when the Standing Committee of SECAM visited the Holy Father at the Vatican in February 2015, he gave the task to the Continent, saying that this was desirable but a challenging order which could not happen without the co-operation of members of CEPACS.
Bishop Badejo of Oyo Diocese, Nigeria, was speaking at the opening of a four-day Meeting from June 6 to 9 at the SECAM Secretariat in Accra for Bishops and Co-ordinators responsible for Social Communications in Regional Conferences of Africa.
The Meeting was convened by Bishop Badejo to chart a new course for the improvement and co-ordination of social communication activities on the continent and deliberate on how to make use of the modern means of communication to evangelize.
CEPACS is made up of Bishops Chairmen for Social Communications of the Eight Regional Conferences of Bishops that constitute SECAM. For a long time CEPACS had been without a Chairman hence the lack of meetings and other activities of this body at the continental level.
The eight Regional Conferences are Regional Episcopal Conferences of West Africa (RECOWA-CERAO), Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA), Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA).
Others are Association Des Conferences Episcopales De l’Afrique Centrale (ACEAC), Association Des Conferences Episcopales De La Region De L’Afrique Centrale (ACERAC), Assemblee De La Hierarchie Catholique D’Egypte (AHCE), Conference Episcopale De Madagascar et De L’ocean Indien (CEDOI), and Conference Episcopale Regionale Du Nord De L’Afrique (CERNA).
The opening ceremony on June 7, was attended by Most Rev. Jean Marie Speich, Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana; Bishop Louis PortellaMbuyu, First Vice President of SECAM; Ms. Petra Stammen, Africa Desk Officer of Catholic Media Organisation (CAMECO); Mr. George Sunguh and Mrs. Victoria Lugey, President and Second Vice President respectively of the Union of Catholic African Press (UCAP) and Rev. Fr. Ernest Koucou, President of SIGNIS Africa and Communications Co-ordinator of RECOWA-CERAO.
Bishop Badejo, who was appointed by SECAM to head CEPACS in February 2015,said he called on the participants to reflect on the current situation and needs of the Church “in our continent especially with reference theme so that we can chart a course for pastoral communications apostolate that will support, accompany and broadcast the authentic Good News of Jesus Christ in the African continent.”
In brief remarks, the Nuncio was happy that CEPACS had come to life and hoped that through it, SECAM would show visibility and credibility inits activities.
He prayed that other Commissions of SECAM would also come to life, reminding participants of the need to frequently read and study Africae Munus.
Archbishop Speich noted that Communication in the life of the Church was important and crucial since “we are in a world that we need to evangelise the people through the use of modern Media.”
He appealed to the African communicators to start the evangelisation from themselves and look at what they were by being truthful and credible in all their endeavours.
He urged them to be on top of new and modern means of communication since the Catholic Church was an island in the mist of Religious confusion, recommending that it was time CEPACS look forward to increase the use of technology because they were instruments of evangelisation, unity, peace and reconciliation.
Ms. Stammen dilated on the 18th AMECEA Plenary held in Malawi in 2014 which highlighted the influence, impact and role of new Information and Communication Technologies(ICT) as well as Social Media in the Evagelisation work of the Church.
Mr. Sunguh pledged UCAP’s readiness to support CEPACS to stimulate, promote and co-ordinate the Church’s mass media activities in the continent.
He said UCAP would place more emphasis on moulding the youth joining the profession with the view of helping them uphold moral values and be guided by the teachings of the Church while performing their duties.
At the Meeting, the participants discussedthe SECAM Strategic Plan, how the various Commissions and Departments of SECAM could collaborate with Communication Offices at Regional and Continental levels, the Catholic News Agency for Africa (CANAA), recommendations to the 17th SECAM Plenary scheduled from July 18 to 25 in Angola, among others.
They also received input on developing and managing websites for the Church in Africa and the setting up of email address for Bishops’ Conferences using the SECAM domain.
