AMECEA PLENARY: AMECEA Bishops Award Regional Pioneer Trainer of Social Communications
Archbishop Martin Kikuva receiving the award on behalf of Maryknoll Missionary priest and veteran Journalist Father Joseph Graham Healey
Mwenya Mukuka
Bishops in the Association of Member Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) region have awarded a Maryknoll Missionary priest and veteran Journalist Father Joseph Graham Healey for his contribution to the training of pastoral agents in modern social communication in the region and promotion of Small Christian Communities ecclesiology.
The Lifetime Achiever Award was announced at the ongoing 20th AMECEA Plenary being held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from 9th to 18th July, 2022.
Father Healey a member of the Maryknoll Fathers congregation, was appointed to lead the training of pastoral agents in modern communication from 1968 to 1973.
However, announcing the award, Bishop John Oballa Owaa, the chairman of AMECEA Social Communications, said that since then Father Healey has always been part of the AMECEA’s history by promoting the use of modern means of social communications for evangelization and Small Christian Communities (SCCs).
Bishop Oballa of Kenya’s Ngong diocese, said Father Healey popularly known as ‘Mwanajumuia’, an SCC Member, who is founder of the AMECEA Social Communications department, had continued fundraising for training and scholarship funds to support AMECEA Secretariat, Bishops’ conferences, and dioceses in training pastoral agents and lay people in charge of social communication apostolates.
He further said that Father Healey supports the hosting and management of AMECEA website since 1999.
The native of the United States also supports the ICT capacity building in the region through the training of personnel in the creation and management of church websites.
“He (Fr Healy) has provided many study opportunities for scholarships at Masters and PhD levels in the region for pastoral agents and the laity including the publication of the small Christian community training handbook for facilitators in many languages.
The Bishop said adding that the priest also supported the hosting and management of AMECEA small Christian community website,” he said.
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