CANADA: SIGNIS 2017 world Congress, what the absentees missed out
Any Catholic Media organization within AMECEA Region and indeed Africa at large has at one point or the other interacted with SIGNIS, which is the World Catholic Association for Communication that brings together radio, television, cinema, video, media education, Internet, and new technology professionals.
Every four years since its inception in November 2001, SIGNIS has always held a world congress which gives a forum for interaction among the Catholic Communication practitioners from across the world. The world Congress is a culmination of two key events, namely the Plenary Assembly, which involves discussions, learnings, and speeches and is open to all members and Delegates Assembly, where elections of board members are done as well as presentations of reports.
The Congress in Quebec which had approximately 500 participants was a beehive of activities, which included plenary discussions as well as learning through sharing of experiences, best practices and success stories. The congress organizers planned the activities in such a way that every aspect of communication was given a focus in order to cater for the various needs of the participants.
Participants were spoilt for choice as the plenary discussions provided rich topics that touches the core of communication practices. Among some of the plenary discussions, which were of interest to AMECEA included the new funding and marketing methods for media where speakers from different regions discussed how media initiatives are adapting new forms of multi-media marketing, crowd funding and other innovations to support and sustain operations. Also of interest was the round table discussion on how creative communication can contribute to building peace and hope in a world of cultural and religious diversity.
Other topics for the Plenary discussions included Communicating faith and hope when the going gets tough; Faith Formation, storytelling and social media; finding truth in the age of digital propaganda and promoting stories of hope about the environment among many others.
The Congress was an opportunity for Catholic communicators to interact, learn from one another and build networks that would go a long way in the field of communications.
The next Congress is scheduled to take place in Korea in 2021
Meanwhile during the Assembly of delegates, the executive board members are usually elected; these includes the President and two Vice Presidents, Ecclesiastical Assistant (Secretary), the General Treasure and the Secretary General. These elections are usually held after every four years during the World Congress. As such the executive Board members who were elected during the Quebec Congress included Ms. Helen Osman from USA, formally of Catholic Media Campaign as President; Mr. Lawrence John Sinniah from Malaysia First Vice President; Rev. Fr. Paul Samasumo, who is former AMECEA Delegate Second Vice President; Rev. Fr. Luis Garcia Orso, SJ from Mexico as Ecclesiastical Assistant and Mr. Emmanuel Bonnet from France as General Treasurer while Mr. Ricardo Yáñez from Argentina retained the position of Secretary General.
Due to lack of quorum, SIGNIS Africa elected delegates on interim basis to serve for two years after which the SIGNIS Africa Members will hold a meeting to elect their leaders. Rev. Fr. Walter Ihejirika from Nigeria was elected Interim President for SIGNIS Africa and Rev. Fr. Alberto Buque from Mozambique Interim Vice President. Rev. Fr. Chrisantus Ndaga will represent AMECEA an interim delegate until AMECEA appoints one from among its Members.
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By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
