SECAM: AMECEA Receives the Highest Number of Awards at CEPACS Golden Jubilee
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
At the close of the 50 years celebration of the Pan African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS) in Lagos, Nigeria, the officials awarded various people and institutions who have contributed to the growth of the committee in the past years where the region of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) received the highest number of awards.
Of the 34 awardees recognized on Monday, November 20, including posthumous awards, 22 of them received plagues while 12 received certificates.
In the AMECEA region, those who received the plaques include His Eminence Polycarp Cardinal Pengo, Archbishop Emeritus of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and the former President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), Rev. Fr. Roger Tessier MAfr. the former Executive Secretary of CEPACS, Fr. Ladislaus Mosha the first Executive Secretary of CEPAS, Fr. Kibrom Tsegai from Eritrea who worked on documentation for CEPACS, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), and the AMECEA Secretariat.
On the other hand, those who received recognition certificates in the AMECEA region posthumously are the late Archbishop James Odongo of Uganda’s Tororo Archdiocese and Fr. Robert Astorino for the Financial support for SECAMS the CANAA News Agency when it was in existence.
Other organizations and individuals who received the awards include; the late Rt. Rev. Paul Khoarai of Laribe, Lesotho from the Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) who was the first Chairman, the late Bernard Cardinal Agré of Man, Ivory Coast from the Regional Episcopal Conferences of West Africa (RECOWA/CERAO), the late Rt. Rev. Dominic Andoh of Accra, Ghana, and the late Rt. Rev. Pius Awa of Buea, Cameroon from the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa Region ACERAC.
Other Posthumous awardees include; John Cardinal Patrick the former President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Bishop Agnelus Andresw also the former President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Fr. Antonio Stefanizzi a member of the Society of Jesus, (SJ), a former Staff of Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Fr. Michael Glynn a former Staff of Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Very Rev. Msgr Joseph O. Faniran the press secretary of SECAM and Rev.Fr. Joseph Befe Ateba also Executive Secretary.
The acknowledged individuals who received the plaques from regions other than AMECEA were; His Eminence John Olorunfemi Cardinal Onaiyekan, Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja Nigeria the former SECAM president, Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo Besungu the current SECAMS president, Dr. Paolo Ruffini the Prefect of the Dicastery of Communications in the Vatican, Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo of Oyo Diocese Nigeria and the President of CEPACS, Fr. Francis X. Damiba, the Former Secretary General of SECAM, Ben B. Assorow the former Executive Secretary of CEPACS and Director of Communications of SECAM and Rev. Sr. Pierre-Elise Gafah the former Executive Secretary of CEPACS.
Other awardees included: SIGNIS-Africa, Union Catholique Afrique Du Press (UCAP), the Catholic Media Council (CAMECO), SIGNIS World Secretariat for technical and financial service to CEPACS, Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference for hosting CEPACS Office, Archbishop Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle of Cape Town, Ghana for the financial support for CANAA News Agency when it existed, Mr. Michel Phillippart, CAMECO Consultant of CEPACS, Dr. Daniela Frank, CAMECO Consultant of CEPACS and Ms. Petra Stammen also as CAMECO Consultant of CEPACS.
