Catholic Media Professionals urged
Most Rev. Matthew Gyamfi, the Episcopal Chairman of the Department of Social Communications (DEPSOCOM) at the National Catholic Secretariat, has tasked Catholic Media Professionals and Communicators to be bearers of the truth as they carried out their duties.
He asked Catholic Media Professionals to be shining examples as a true bearers of the truth regardless of who would be affected or is involved, stressing that it was expedient for the truth to be the hallmark of every Catholic Media Professional because there is the likelihood to spread falsehood in the name of communication.
“Our purpose is to speak the truth because in communication, there is the likelihood to spread falsehood under the guise of communication but communication is about truth,” he added.
Bishop Gyamfi said this at the sideline of a meeting between the Catholic Association of Media Practitioners, (CAMP-G), the Department of Social Communication of the National Catholic Secretariat and the National Catholic News Paper, The Catholic Standard, to discuss how effective the Church could use modern ways of communication to spread the Word of God and to come together as one force rather than each entity working as an individual body.
According to the Bishop, the objective of Media Practitioners in the Church is to shine light in the confused aspect of issues, saying that “Let us ask ourselves what the truth is and since Jesus stands for the truth, and came to bear witness about the truth, ours is to bear witness to the truth.”
He noted that the aspect of bearing the truth should characterise every Catholic Media Practitioner.
The Bishop re-emphasised that the Church needs to evangelise by communicating love, peace and the teachings of Jesus Christ to people. He noted that as the world of Communication continues to evolve, it was time for the various players in the Church to come together to share ideas and learn how to work and co-operate with each other.
For his part, the Acting President of CAMP -G, Mr. Emmanuel Vorgbe, said though the core mandate of the Association was to articulate the teachings and views of the Church, it has had limited success in carrying out the mandate as a result of the fact that majority of Catholic Journalists worked with the secular media.
Mr. Vorgbe added that the meeting with the Episcopal Chairman begins a new chapter in the life of the CAMP-G which will make it more effective and relevant in the life and mission of the Church.
“We are expected to be operating under the Department of Social Communication, and over these years, we have maintained the contact with the Department. It is our hope the meeting with the Episcopal Chairman will be the beginning of a new chapter,” he said.
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Committee comprising members of CAMP-G, DEPSOCOM and The Catholic Standard was put together by the Bishop to come out with a Communication Plan and work on different parameters on how the various players will become more effective.
By Ernest Senanu Dovlo