African Church Consider News Service for Whole Continent

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept. 03, 2010, 12:00 Hrs (Zenit.org):

"Fragmentation is our biggest weakness," says a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication, referring to a lack of networking and synergy among initiatives in Africa.

"As a church we need to share our stories through networking," Father Janvier Yameogo affirmed.

The Vatican aide made this assertion at a three-day workshop in Kenya, which is wrapping up today. Participants have been considering the possibility of a Catholic news agency for Africa that would cover the entire continent, the Catholic Information Service for Africa reported.

The workshop was organized by the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) along with the Catholic Media Council.

Bishop Alfred Rotich, chairman of the Kenya Episcopal Conference's Social Communication Commission, spoke to the communicators about their mission to awaken a sense of public responsibility for the defense of human rights.

“On account of the many difficulties and atrocities which bring human sufferings and miseries on the rise; it is your role as Catholic communicators to awaken the public about their responsibility in the defense of human rights,” he said.

The bishop affirmed that communicators have to provide information that will lead people to make good decisions about responding to conflicts and challenges.

Emphasizing the need for communicators to collaborate and share information, he cautioned that the "term global village has come to represent merely technological advancement while leaving behind global human relations.”

Father Yameogo acknowledged that news services and other initiatives across Africa already "have been doing a lot."

"But there are very little interactions and no collaboration between these initiatives," he said. "This situation of fragmentation is our biggest weakness.”