TANZANIA: Bishop Applauds AMECEA for Making ICT a tool for Evangelization
Bishop Mfumbusa addressing the AMECEA ICT Workshop Participants at Kurasini Center in Dar-es-Salaam
By Makeda Yohannes, CBCE Communications and Public Relation Officer
Rt. Rev. Bishop Bernadine Mfumbusa, Chairman of Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) Communications Commission has lauded the AMECEA Secretariat for prioritizing new information technologies (ICTs) in its quest for evangelization. Bishop Mfumbusa stated this when he officially opened the joint workshop for National Communications Coordinators, Online reporters and ICT officers organized by AMECEA in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on November 14 – 18, 2016.
Workshop Participants at Kurasini Center in Dar-es-Salaam
“ICT is now part and parcel of everyday lives. It is a great thing that the Church in AMECEA Region has embraced the trend by establishing ICT Coordination office,” he said.
Reflecting on the Holy Father Pope Francis’ message about the relationship between Communications and Mercy, Bishop Mfumbusa said that ICT has the power to build and enrich society through its encounter and inclusion. He called on the participants of the workshop to use the opportunity to understand and discuss new technologies, applications and implications of ICT use in Pastoral work.
And AMECEA Social Communications Coordinator, Rev. Fr. Chrisantus Ndaga disclosed that AMECEA was aiming to support each Episcopal Conference in the region to be equipped with ICT skills and increase their online presence through websites, blogs and other means.
“With this workshop the participants will understand and discuss new technologies and applications of ICT use and adoption with an emphasis on innovative technologies for connecting Conferences to Dioceses,” said Fr. Ndaga.
He added that the use of ICT in the region is growing at a very fast rate and the Church is invited to take advantage of this opportunity to explore ways of using ICT for evangelizing. He encouraged all Conferences in the region to continue participating in the AMECEA online newsletter bulletin and use it as a means of communicating their work to each other and to the rest of the world.
“With the online newsletter bulletin the world is now more informed about what the Catholic Church in AMECEA region is doing. We have been receiving reliable news reports from each conference and this way we have become a major source of information about our Church,” said Fr. Ndaga.
The workshop created a space for the national coordinators, online reporters and ICT officers to discuss on how they could collaborate on developing the online presence of the Church in the region and share experiences with one another. AMECEA Social Communications department is building the capacity of the Conferences on communications and ICT with the financial support from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
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