to proclaim his presence and to serve him where he is to be found

About ComWEEK

ComWEEK is an initiative of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, aimed at introducing media literacy at the grassroots in Catholic parishes.
Nigeria is home to about 30 million Catholics, making her the twelfth largest population of Catholics in the world, and the second largest population of Catholics in Africa, with a total of 4,365 parishes across the country. Wow! This implies that the ComWEEK is the biggest media literacy campaign in Nigeria.
The maiden edition of ComWEEK begins on 22^nd May and will run through to 29 May 2022 which is the World Day of Communications. The World Day of Communications was instituted by Pope Paul VI in 1967 and has been celebrated yearly for the past 54 years. It is a day that the Church, through the Popes, guide us with the aid of a theme, on the importance and dangers of communications and media in the world.
The theme for the 2022 World Day of Communications is ‘Listen’
Listening is a key element in effective communication. We know that to talk is natural but to communicate effectively is a skill. Almost everyone talks, but very few communicate effectively.
To understand one another, we must listen. By this theme, we are called upon to develop our communication skills during the ComWEEK.
The ComWEEK is coordinated by the National Directorate of Social Communications, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria in collaboration with CAMPAN, CAEAN and SIGNIS Nigeria.

“The revolution taking place in communications media and in information technologies represents a great and thrilling challenge; may we respond to that challenge with fresh energy and imagination as we seek to share with others the beauty of God.”
– Pope Francis

Papal Commendation on ComWeek Nigeria

Click here to see full text of a congratulatory letter

Celebrating the First Communications Week in Nigeria

I am thrilled as the Church in Nigeria takes this great stride to celebrate the first Communications Week (ComWEEK), as an expansion of the World Communications Day, following its approval by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).
In keeping with the 55 years tradition, the Holy Father invites us during this year’s World Communications Day to reflect on the theme: “Listen with the ear of the heart.” He emphasises the “great need to listen to one another” because, “freely giving of our own time to listen to people is the first act of charity.” The continuous call on the Church to “listen” is not accidental, since it is the panacea for peace in the world, which is based on justice.
Daily, we come across neighbours, strangers as well as family members whose only need is to be heard. This very important element of communication, listening, is more of a skill than a natural endowment.
The ComWEEK programme therefore affords us, among other things, the opportunity to learn to listen to one another.
We commend our National Directorate of Social Communications for producing this daily programme of activities for use during the whole week of media literacy in the Church and for making it available in this booklet, as well as on the comweeknigeria.com and the Nigeria Catholic Network (nigeriacatholicnetwork.com) Apps.
I strongly encourage all priests, pastoral agents and individuals to ensure that all Catholics download the App and are part of the daily activities by physically attending the programmes in their parishes. Those who for good reasons cannot participate in their parish or small communities, can also be part of the programme online as a family, group of friends, or alone.
We commit the success of this initiative to God through the intercession of our Mother Mary, who teaches us how to listen to the voice of God and how to do His will.

Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji
Archbishop of Owerri Archdiocese
CBCN President

Kudos to ComWEEK Initiative

The Communications Week (ComWEEK) is a welcome local initiative to address a key dimension of the annual World Communications Day’s purpose through grassroots media literacy. It is a welcome innovation in an area of the Church’s pastoral life that is characterised by constant change. The ever changing world of communications compels the Church to embrace this kind of creative media formation for the faithful in order to achieve the mission of proclaiming the good news in all dimensions of life.
It is imperative for the entire Church to embrace this initiative of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and the well-laid-out program of the ComWEEK and fully collaborate with the National Directorate of Social Communications of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria in its implementation.
We simply cannot keep doing things in the way we have always done and expect new results.
So CBCN ComWEEK, here we come!

  Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo
Bishop of Oyo Diocese, President of CEPACS

Birthing The Maiden Edition Of ComWEEK Celebration

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!

Most Rev. David Ajang
The Bishop of Lafia Diocese
The CBCN Chairman for Social Communications