African Communicators Seek to Restructure Media Strategies at Jubilee of Communications

Nairobi, Kenya, January 17, 2025: Catholic media professionals from Eastern Africa, in their roles as directors of national offices from the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) region, are all set to gather in Rome from January 26-28 for the Jubilee of Communications. Scheduled as part of the year-long Jubilee Year of Hope, the event aims to explore new pastoral approaches and digital strategies to enhance Church communication.

AMECEA bishops have a longstanding commitment to enhancing communication structures within the church. Following the Second Vatican Council’s decree, Inter Mirifica, on social communications in 1963, bishops belonging to the AMECEA held a meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1973 to discuss strategies to implement the decree.

“Fifty years later, this Jubilee offers African communicators an amazing opportunity to rethink those strategies in the context where digital technologies have dominated the field of communication,” said Fr. Andrew Kaufa, AMECEA’s coordinator for social communications, in an interview with Vatican News. “It also provides an opportunity to raise awareness among bishops and national coordinators of communication on the new trends and pastoral approaches required,” he added.

Fr. Kaufa emphasized that the Holy Year is rooted in journeying together, with the Church guiding the faithful to face the challenges of life with hope. He added that, during this Jubilee Year, national communication coordinators are dedicated to ensuring that Catholic media apostolates engage with the people in the reflection of the theme to give people hope.

During the interview, Fr. Kaufa also recalled the golden jubilee of the Pan African Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS), an initiative of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), which was held in 2023. He noted that SECAM’s eight regions have varying levels of commitment to communication structures and integrating communication into pastoral planning, with some more engaged than others.

“This Jubilee is another opportunity for African participants to collaborate, explore new methods of Church communication, and advise SECAM through CEPACS,” said Fr. Kaufa. “This may lead to another gathering at the CEPACS or AMECEA level, following the jubilee event in Rome,” he concluded.

Courtesy: Vatican News