Catholic Bishops task members on use of media

CATHOLIC Archbishop of Benin Diocese, Most Rev. Augustine Akubeze, yesterday, tasked Catholics to propagate their faith using the media.

The Bishop, who stated this during the 2015 Plenary of Diocesan Directors of Communication /Religious Directors of Communication and Catholic Media practitioners conference in Benin City, also urged journalists to contribute to nation building.

“In carrying out this task,” according to him, “you must always keep the directives of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council in perspective. “The Synod Fathers expressed the principle that should guide all directors and secretaries of communication. They stated that men and women of the media, especially Catholics must be guided by the moral order, in which the social context and the circumstances are taken into consideration for proper communication.” he said.

The theme of the conference was “Communicating the family: A privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love.” Akubueze described the subject matter of the conference as “apt,” even as he stressed that the media must help to shape public opinion of a society. He added that journalists should ensure they meet the demands of justice and charity in the formation of public opinion.

“The instrument of the media can be used for both good and bad purposes. The media can be used to eliminate erroneous teaching by enlightening the people; the same media can be used to facilitate genocide and inter-ethnic crisis by disseminating falsehood and half-truths. The faithful must be reminded that except for a just case, the Christian faithful are not to write anything for newspapers, magazines or periodicals, which are accustomed to attack openly the catholic religion or good morals, clerics and members of religious institute.”

Chairman Communications Directorate of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Most Rev. Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo, in his keynote address entitled, “The role of the Media in Communicating Family Values,” said the focus of the conference is on ensuring that the media play a positive role in communicating family values in our society.”