Catholic Church opens communications week, urges respect for media

The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) has flagged-off its Communications Week (ComWEEK). The one-week event is holding in all 4,365 parishes of the 58 dioceses of the church across the federation.

National Director of Social Communications at CSN, Rev. Fr. Michael Nsikak Umoh, said the programme is geared at arousing Catholics to appreciate and understand the power of the media, as well as the need to employ them for the mission of the church and personal development in this digital age.

He explained that the programme is an initiative of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) for which the body had been commended by the Vatican.

According to Umoh, the event, which would run daily, ends on May 21. While addressing members of the Nigerian Institute of Social Media Analysts (NISMA) who paid him a courtesy visit, Umoh clarified that the event is an expansion of the one-day World Communications Day established since 1967 by Pope Paul VI.

He added that the bishops developed it into a one-week programme, conscious of the enormous challenges of media and communications to the church and modern society, particularly in the present digital age.

Umoh informed the NISMA officials of the particular interest in the programme shown by the Vatican Dicastery for Communications, stating: “They have expressed interest and concern and have noted that the initiative deserves wider consideration.”