By Rachel Kogi
The National Director of Social Communications, Very Rev. Fr. Michael Nsikak Umoh has encouraged all Coordinators of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) to inculcate the spirit of collaboration with one another and with other departments of the Church wherever they are working.
Fr. Umoh gave the charge in an address to the PMS Coordinators at the opening ceremony of the Joint Coordinators’ Meeting held on Wednesday, 26 January, 2022 at the Resource Centre of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN).
The media icon congratulated the PMS National Director, Very Rev. Fr. Solomon Zaku for hosting the programme and appreciated him for the opportunity to address the Coordinators. He made the Coordinators understand that the Directorate of Social Communications and the PMS office enjoy very good collaboration.
The Communications Director observed that “a media office anywhere does not exist for itself but to report and promote the activities of other departments of the Church.” Quoting Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven”, he explained that “our work is to make the activities of the Church known to the people and the society.”
Fr. Umoh further noted that “we need this type of collaboration at all levels, particularly in the Dioceses. The task of the Diocesan Communications office is to promote the work of the other departments, of which PMS is part, so we should have that synergy.”
Throwing some light on the theme for the 2022 World Communications Day, “Listen”, the Director stated that through this theme, the Holy Father harps on the need for the Church to be a listening community. Since the PMS is in charge of children through the Holy Childhood Association, the Coordinators should advance the course of ensuring that the voice of the children are heard undiluted, within the context of the ongoing Synodality process.
The Director went on to introduce the Communications Week programme, an initiative of the Bishops of Nigeria, as an expansion of the World Communications Day. He noted that instead of celebrating just one day, the Church in Nigeria will now have a week set aside for celebrating communications. He added that the Catholic Bishops were spurred by the desire to build “missionary disciples”, as enunciated by the Holy Father in Evangeli Gaudium. Thus, they find media literacy, which is the heart of the Communications Week, a necessary tool to achieve this goal.
Furthermore, Fr. Umoh explained that media literacy is important in building a listening Church and community, as well as engendering critical and responsive citizenship for democratic dispensation. While calling on the PMS Coordinators to key into the Communications Week Programme, he concluded that media literacy will foster the spirit of Synodality and sharpen individual skills for critical listening and respect for the opinion of others.
