Friday 3 August 2012

AMECEA WORKSHOP ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POST – SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION AFRICAE MUNUS

AMECEA Secretariat had a successful workshop held in March 5 to 9, 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop on the Implementation of the Post – Synodal Apostolic Exhortation AFRICAE MUNUS had the theme “Shaping the destiny of the people in the region.” The over seventy delegates for the workshop were drawn from all the nine countries of the AMECEA Region and they included archbishops, bishops, priests, religious men and women as well as lay people. They were representatives of the three important departments of AMECEA namely: Social Communications, Justice and Peace and Pastoral and Lay Apostolate.

In his opening speech, Very Rev. Fr. Ferdinand Lugonzo, AMECEA Secretary General borrowed the words of his predecessor, Fr. Pius Rutechura which reaffirmed that the second special assembly is a reminder that the Church in Africa has an unfinished agenda in the area of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace. This he said is a very strong indication that more than anything else, the pastoral focus and priority of the AMECEA Region must be in the area of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace. He added that looking at Africa’s recent history, Reconciliation, Justice and Peace are vital issues at this moment in time. Therefore there is need for the AMECEA region to deepen its reflection on this theme and reveal the real causes of conflict and propose concrete ways and means to bring about Reconciliation, Justice and Peace. This according to Fr. Ferdinand is where the idea of the Workshop on the Papal Exhortation Africae Munus was conceived.

While officially opening the workshop, Most Rev. Tarcisius Ziyaye, chairman of AMECEA reaffirmed the sentiments of the Secretary General Fr. Ferdinand, saying that among the many resolutions that the AMECEA Bishops passed during the AMECEA 17th Plenary which was held last year in Nairobi was the need to strengthen mechanisms of networks of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace and Caritas in order to support the Church in effective response to shaping the destiny of the people of God within the AMECEA Region. 

Most Rev. Ziyaye pledged during his speech that matters of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace are and shall remain on the agenda of AMECEA for the next three years and beyond. He said that the need for AMECEA to focus on these matters is intensified with the current history of the region. “While we thank almighty God for the relatively peaceful atmosphere that many of the countries in our Region are experiencing, we cannot close our eyes on the reality of conflict, the experience of injustices and the need to bring healing among our people,” he said.

An invited guest speaker ambassador Bethwel Kiplagat from Kenya pleaded with the clergy from the region to consider creating chaplaincies for parliaments, chaplaincies for civil servants, chaplaincy for the police in our countries in order to reach out spiritually to both government and civic leaders. “Here in Kenya for instance, we have a chaplaincy for the armed forces, it will do this country a great deal if other key sectors such as parliament and civil service have the same so as to reach out spiritually to these leaders in order to steer them back to the right way. In most cases African leaders err because they lack spiritual guidance.” 

Rt. Rev. Martin Mtumbuka, the Chairman of AMECEA Justice and Peace urged the participants in the workshop to be committed to their call through active participation and involvement. “I would like us to go to our suffering brothers and sisters and show them solidarity. We may not be able to have answers to their problems, we may not be able to offer the solutions they so desperately need; but our presence among them is very vital. To relay messages to our suffering brothers and sisters telling them that we know they are suffering and we are praying for them is not enough; to hold meetings on behalf of our suffering brothers in comfortable hotels and discuss their agenda far away from them is not enough. We need to be there for them, be present amidst them, feel their pain and give whatever support we can; this is the true meaning of solidarity; this is what we must embrace” he emphasized.

The four-day workshop ended in high spirit with the participants pledging commitment to do their part towards the implementation of the Papal Exhortation Africae Munus. Solidarity and collaborations were among key pledges, which members of the region promised to embrace. All in all, the future looks bright and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the commitment and desires of the members; certainly these will bear fruits.

Source: AMECEA Social Communications Office

AMECEA SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS WORKSHOP ON COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PAPAL EXHORTATION DOCUMENT AFRICAE MUNUS

AMECEA Social Communications Department organized a workshop on communications strategies for effective implementation of the Papal Exhortation Document Africae Munus. The workshop which began 21st May 2012 and ended on 25th May 2012 was organized for Communicators within the AMECEA Region. These include the National Communications Secretaries from the AMECEA Conferences and representatives from both religious and secular media from AMECEA Countries.

The main focus was media and evangelization and how the modern communication technologies including the social media, which have been embraced by the majority especially the young people, can be utilized for evangelization especially of the youth and consequently the implementation of the Africae Munus.

In his opening speech, Rt. Rev. Charles Kasonde, the bishop chairman for AMECEA Social Communication explained that AMECEA Social Communications department has a responsibility to strategize on new approaches of networking, mutual collaboration and actions of solidarity among AMECEA media practitioners in order to bring awareness of the document and address the challenges facing their pastoral ministry as expressed in the document.

In his presentation titled Evangelizing the World of Information, Technology and Communications: A Pastoral Challenge, Rev. Dr. Segeja Nicholaus, Head of Department of Pastoral Theology at the Catholic University Of Eastern Africa CUEA, told the workshop delegates that the tremendous increasingly use of the media is affecting all, both in positive and negative ways and the most are the youth (Generation – Gen “Y”). He added that the modern mass media are not only instruments of communication, but also a world to be evangelized which eventually brings about at least two implications namely, the right understanding of the reality of communication and the use of the media so that it propagates the good, the true and the beautiful. He also said that Africae Munus calls it authentic communication (AM, 142-146, Caritas in Veritate, 73) which should be a priority in Africa – Hence should include four integral dimensions, namely, building of community, koinonia; witness to the truth, matyria; diakonia; and reverence and the sense of the sacred, liturgia.

Rt. Rev. Dr. Bernardin Francis Mfumbusa, Bishop of Kondoa Diocese in Tanzania who presented the topic The Missionary Mandate in Our Times, pointed out that based on statistics, Facebook, a common social network for instance boasts of 800 million users, with people spending 700 billion minutes per month and a user spending an average 15 hours & 33 minutes a month on the site, while 30 billion pieces of content is shared on Facebook each month; yet the Church is lagging in the use of new media technologies for evangelization; and the reasons being the following: the nature of new media technologies; the church is no longer a leader in education/research sector and the skills required viz. multi-tasking etc.

He added that the following should be issues of concern for the Catholic Communicators:
·         How to Reach Gen Y?
·         How to counteract religion related negativity?
·         How to deal with the banalization of religious symbols?
·         Limited presence of Catholic content in social media.

Other topic covered during the workshop included Social Media – Facebook and the blog at the service of the world and in this topic; delegates were intensively informed of the meaning of social media; examples of social media and the social media landscape. Concerning Facebook, the main focus was about major social features of Facebook, other features of Facebook, Facebook as a media for new youth evangelization, why Facebook is so strategic for evangelization and why Facebook is so popular. Other aspects of Facebook which the delegates were informed of included Facebook’s political and social impacts, negative effects of Facebook in regards to spiritual impact, Facebook etiquette, Facebook privacy and the future of Facebook. In regards to blogs, delegates were informed of the reasons why blogs are popular; how the Church can use the blogs to evangelize; disadvantages of blogging; blogging etiquette and future of blogs.

There was also the topic of The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World with the main focus on YouTube; what is a YouTube; Why YouTube is More Popular than Google Video and YouTube etiquette

At the end of the workshop, delegates were able to come up with the following resolutions:
1.       There will be an officially launch Africae Munus in all national conferences to aid in popularize the document and signal official start of implementation. Those to be involved include National Communications Office; AMECEA Conferences Secretaries General’s office; Caritas –Justice and Peace and Pastoral departments. They should organize suitable date for launch, organize activities and then launch. This was resolved to take place by the end of the year 2012.

2.       Formation of national Africae Munus steering committees or task force groups to co-ordinate activities and avoid parallel programs and duplication. This is to be done by National Communications Office; Secretary General’s office; Caritas –Justice and Peace and Pastoral departments. The National Communications office to lobby Secretary General’s office, Caritas and Pastoral offices at Catholic Secretariat to create committees and this should be done by end of June 2012.

3.       The Design AMECEA blog on Africae Munus activities in the region to increase knowledge sharing and best (good) practices. This to be done by AMECEA Communications office and the National Communications departments. The AMECEA Communications office to design and launch the blog and regularly update it; while the National Communications departments to regularly contribute to the blog. This should be done by end of June 2012.

4.       Distribute soft copies of simplified version of Africae Munus to increase dissemination via internet and social media; simplified version to ensure easy understanding of Africae Munus issues. The task is to be performed by AMECEA Communications office and Nation Communication Departments. The AMECEA Communications office to distribute Africae Munus soft copy to National Communications Departments who in turn to share Africae Munus soft copy document widely. This is to be done by July 2012.

5.       Know about and document Africae Munus activities being carried out by other departments at national level to retain experiences of activities being carried out. This is to be done by the National Communications Departments who are to make inquiries from other departments about Africae Munus programs; other departments are supposed to share their plans with National Communications office and this should be an ongoing process throughout 2012-2013.

6.       Bring about the importance of social media as a new tool for evangelization in order to explore new ways of spreading the Gospel and the message of Africae Munus and to reach the youth; build capacity among Catholic media practitioners. This task is to be performed by the National Communication departments with the help from AMECEA Communications Office through conducting workshops on social media for diocesan communication offices and diocesan media. This will be an ongoing program.

7.       Reach out to journalists especially Catholic journalists working for secular media to increase effectiveness of Church communications. The task is to be performed by AMECEA Communication Office and the National Communications Departments by visiting secular media houses to familiarize with their operations; bring them on board (secular media); also suggested is the formation of Catholic media associations. This should also be an ongoing program.

8.       The message of Africae Munus to be constantly featured in all Church media to continuously educate and remind people about the importance of the Africae Munus message. This is to be done by Catholic media houses in AMECEA. AMECEA Communications office and National Communication Department to encourage Catholic media to produce radio and television programs and to write articles. Africae Munus programs should be in multimedia and this is to be an ongoing program.

9.       Counter negative media publicity towards the Church to enhance Catholic faith as a positive and worthy lifestyle. This is to be done by AMECEA Communications office and National Communications Department who are to lobby Bishops to appoint spokespersons of each conference; there should also be workshops for clergy to handle media and engage Catholic journalists working for secular media. This is to be an ongoing activity.

10.   Make Catholic media houses attractive to work for in order to enhance quality productions and bring about professionalism. This activity is to be performed by the AMECEA Communications office and the National Communication Departments and it will be an ongoing activity.

11.   Review implementation plan to re-align activities and make this plan more effective. This is to be done by AMECEA Communications Office and the National Communications Departments at the annual meeting of National Communication Directors to be held in August 2012.

All in all, the workshop was well attended with representations from all AMECEA Conferences except Eritrea where delegates could not come due to problems facing their country. It can be said that it was a big success.

Source: AMECEA Social Communications Office