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Catholic Journalists in Africa have been urged to promote inter-religious dialogue for the promotion of peace, security, education and development on the African Continent. Faced with economic difficulties, unrests in various African countries thereby impeding the needed development, speakers at a Refresher programme for Catholic journalists in Africa, stressed the need for journalists to research and write for the proper understanding of issues.
In his message to the participants at the programme, the Prefect of the Dicastery of Communication at the Vatican, Paolo Ruffini, noted that interreligious dialogue was a fundamental issue in the region. He said that living together and social cohesion had been undermined by terrorism, which exploited and sometimes exacerbated ethnic and religious differences.
Paolo Ruffini said that “the conviviality of differences can unite socially, without colonizing the other and preserving the identity of each” adding that “conviviality takes on political relevance as an alternative to social fragmentation, competition and conflict.”
He said that as communicators, the journalists “have the capacity and also the responsibility to evaluate and discern everything that can promote conviviality in the public media space and especially, on social media platforms.”
He pointed out that technology and the multiplication of connections can increase mutual understanding, but cautioned that the “truth cannot be reduced to the opinion most amplified by social media.” He added that “a sharpened awareness of the responsibility we have for each other can help to rediscover a true community identity for a new dream of fraternity and social friendship”. (Cf. Fratelli tutti n°6)
He hoped that the task of education, which is an integral part of the mission of Christian communicators, would indeed be a responsibility shared by all in favor of dialogue.
As regards the jounalist's mission to entertain through communication, Paolo Ruffini asked communicators to mark out avenues in order to prevent bad behavior and reorganize the narratives to stimulate frank and constructive debate between all. He prayed that their christian faith would be an inspiration to discern and calmly ask the right ethical, social, legal, political and economic questions, with a view to promoting conviviality.
He hoped that the capacity building workshop would help accumulate rich experiences of dialogue and grow bonds of friendship between the professionals to be craftsmen who promote peace.
The President of UCAP Africa, Mr Charles Ayetan, said that it was a good time for journalists to come together and dialogue on the prevention of conflicts and the maintenance of peace in our communities because of the conflicts on the continent.
He explained that the Refresher Program was a capacity building seminar for Catholic media and communication professionals. He said that since the refresher program held in 1994 in Dakar, Senegal, UCAP had continued to promote this event which was sometimes organized by the continental body and sometimes also, by the national bodies of UCAP, in all regions of the continent. He reminded members that the Cotonou Refresher Program as well as the Kampala Refresher Program, scheduled for November, 2023 in Uganda was open to all countries on the continent.
My Ayetan thanked UCAP Benin for hosting the programme and also thanked UCAP Burkina for partnering UCAP Benin to organise the programme. He announced that the next UCAP Congress would be held in 2025, in Accra, Ghana, in partnership with UCAP Ghana also known as the Catholic Association of Media Practitioners - Ghana (CAMP-G).
He thanked the Holy See, the state authorities as well as the episcopal conferences of the countries represented, especially those of Benin and Burkina Faso-Niger, for their involvement in the organization of this seminar.
The keynote address was delivered by the Bishop of the diocese of Djougou, Msgr. Bernard de Clairvaux Toha Wontacien.
Other speakers at the programme, stressed the need for inter-religious education and dialogue to break stereotypes and improve upon security on the continent.
The programme which had as its theme "Interreligious Dialogue and Promotion of Peace in West Africa: Contribution of Communicators and Media Professionals", was held from the 9th to the 17th August, at the Saint Jean Etudes Centre in Atrokpocodji, near Cotonou in Benin. It brought together Catholic Media Professionals from Benin, Burkina, La Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.
