Most Rev. David Ajang, Bishop of Lafia Diocese & the CBCN Chairman for Social Communications
Dear friends, it is with great joy that I, on behalf of all Catholic Bishops in Nigeria, welcome you to the maiden edition of this very promising and laudable project, the Communications Week (ComWEEK). Interestingly, this is an initiative of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), which has already enjoyed endorsement by the Vatican.
Today, much as media influence all aspects of life and are everywhere, most people still do not understand how they actually operate. This explains why there are many negative engagements of the media; more like a loaded gun in the wrong hands. The situation warrants every form of media education from anywhere one can access it.
The Catholic Bishops have therefore taken up this responsibility, to expose over 30 million Catholics in Nigeria, and even non-Catholics, to some form of media education. This is within the context of the annual World Communications Day which has been universally celebrated in the past 55 years on a single day, and only among very few people in the media industry.
Among other things, it is expected that the ComWEEK initiative will call greater awareness to the importance of media in the Church for discipleship. It will equip the people with the needed skills for the ongoing synodality process; it will enlighten the people on the teachings of the Church regarding media and communications; it will help build stronger communities based on dialogue, mutual respect, collaboration among individuals and Church organs; and it will empower the people for democratic citizenship.
Let us wholeheartedly embrace this programme in order to reap its abundant benefits for the good of the Church and advancement of our society.
Happy celebrations!
