{"id":22959,"date":"2025-08-22T16:19:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T16:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/?p=22959"},"modified":"2025-08-22T17:53:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T17:53:21","slug":"amecea-communication-policy-must-shape-the-churchs-voice-says-kenyan-bishop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/22\/amecea-communication-policy-must-shape-the-churchs-voice-says-kenyan-bishop\/","title":{"rendered":"AMECEA: Communication Policy Must Shape the Church’s Voice, Says Kenyan Bishop"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA<\/em><\/p>\n

At the launch of the Communication Policy for the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) and the AMECEA Digital Radio App on Monday, August 18, the Bishop Chairman of the\u00a0Commission for Social Communications\u00a0at the\u00a0Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops\u00a0(KCCB) emphasized that a Communication Policy needs to shape the Church\u2019s collective voice in the digital age.<\/p>\n

In his keynote address during the event held at Consolata Shrine in Kenya\u2019s Capital, Nairobi, Bishop\u00a0Wallace Ng\u2019ang\u2019a Gachihi, the chairman of the\u00a0Commission for Social Communications\u00a0of the\u00a0Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops\u00a0(KCCB), said the Church cannot afford to treat communication merely as a tool for passing information.<\/p>\n

Rather, he narrated, communication must be a guiding force that shapes how the Church engages society, builds bridges, and responds to emerging challenges.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cThe AMECEA Communication Policy we are launching today, must shape the Church’s voice for tomorrow. Let us ensure that the Church\u2019s voice is clear, compassionate, and compelling,\u201d The Bishop who is the Local Ordinary of Kenya\u2019s\u00a0Military Ordinariate said and added, that the Church should be \u201ca voice that builds bridges rather than walls, a voice that heals rather than creates harm, and a voice that invites rather than excludes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bishop addressed the gathering that brought together participants both onsite on online, including Catholic media practitioners, AMECEA partners, religious and clergy, in a message he themed \u201cBuilding Bridges in the Digital Age: Communication Policies for Catholic Media.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

According to the Prelate, the Church currently operates in \u201ca new culture of encounter and connectivity.\u201d He echoed Pope Francis\u2019 call to communicators earlier this year to embrace their \u201cfundamental role in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stressing the significance of developing working policies in an organization, Bishop Ng\u2019ang\u2019a narrated that well-crafted communication policies provide direction on accountability, prevent confusion, and ensure that the Church speaks with one unified voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolicies are not bureaucratic obstacles but liberating frameworks. They keep us anchored to Gospel truth while guiding us through the complex terrain of modern media,\u201d he said, referencing the Vatican\u2019s pastoral reflection Towards Full Presence<\/a>, which stressed that \u201cD<\/em>igital engagement must go beyond visibility to become an ‘authentic presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"He cautioned against the dangers of reckless communication that fuels division, quoting Proverbs 12:18: \u201cThe words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The policy, he added, will help Catholic communicators respond effectively to crises, safeguard children and vulnerable adults, and responsibly embrace emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence.<\/p>\n

The Chairman of the\u00a0Commission for Social Communications\u00a0at the Bishops’ conference pointed to Africa\u2019s strengths in communication, such as storytelling and community values rooted in the philosophy of ubuntu<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cOur tradition that \u2018it takes a village to raise a child\u2019 translates powerfully into digital spaces,\u201d Bishop Ng\u2019ang\u2019a said, urging Catholic media to embody inclusivity and collaboration between clergy, religious, and laity.<\/p>\n

\"\"He further outlined three practical requirements for Catholic media in the AMECEA region saying, \u201cEmbrace digital technologies with wisdom<\/strong>.<\/strong> As AMECEA, let us not fear these new technological inventions but rather harness them for content creation, translation, and data analysis while maintaining the human touch that makes our Gospel message authentic.<\/p>\n

Besides, counter misinformation proactively<\/strong>, ensuring that truth \u201cnot only endures but also catches up with speed.\u201d Similarly, he told media practitioners, Practice cultural sensitivity<\/strong>, by producing content that resonates with diverse audiences while respecting their dignity.<\/p>\n

He likened the collaborative spirit of communication to an African proverb: \u201cWhen spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion,\u201d<\/em> and urged Catholic communicators to weave their efforts together through shared policies, common purpose, and prophetic witness to overcome misinformation and division in the digital age.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA At the launch of the Communication Policy for the Association…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amecea","category-amecea-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22959"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22991,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22959\/revisions\/22991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}