Joseph Oladejo Faniran
Evangelizing the Media: A Challenge to the Church in Africa

Fr Joseph Oladejo Faniran is the SECAM Press Secretary. He is a diocesan priest from Oyo Diocese, Nigeria. He studied communications at the Ottawa and Carleton University, Ontario, Canada. His address is: Press Office, SECAM secretariat, P.O. Box 9156, Airport, ACCRA, Ghana.

Introduction

When presenting the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Africa, in Johannesburg, September 1995, Pope John Paul II declared, "The fruits of the Synod set out in the Apostolic Exhortation constitute a kind of pastoral plan of action for the Church in Africa as she seeks to be faithful to her vocation and mission ...". This "vocation and mission" is to build up the Kingdom of God in Africa and its surrounding islands through the following topics of the African Synod: Proclamation, Inculturation, Dialogue, Justice and Peace and the Means of Social Communication. The aim of this article is to discuss the importance of "the pastoral plan of action" that the Holy Father has placed before the Church in Africa in view of the Synod topic of Means of Social Communication.

References to Means of Social Communication in Ecclesia in Africa

N. 52 highlights some of the present-day problems of the Church in Africa in the area of communication such as the "intrusiveness of the Mass Media". It states that:

These media are run by centres that are located mostly in the northern hemisphere, and these do not always give due consideration to the priorities and problems of African countries or respect African cultural make-up. They frequently impose a distorted vision of life and of man, and thus fail to respond to the demands of true development.

The document goes further to describe African nations as "cogs on the gigantic wheel of progress" rather than "autonomous nations" that are able to move their countries towards a just and equitable society. When referring to Means of Social Communication the document confirms that it "is of the greatest importance because it concerns both the instruments of evangelization and the means of spreading a new culture which needs to be evangelized". This challenges the Church in Africa to perceive the Means of Social Communication as a tool for carrying out Christ’s mission entrusted to it and as an arena in which that mission is to be carried out.

N. 71 provides an outline for the theological foundation of the Means of Social Communication. It traces the genesis of communication back to the nature of God, characterised by the need to communicate that God, "having bestowed on humanity", enters, in a very special way, into relationships with human beings. This relationship reached its culminating point "in these days" when God speaks through His Son, Jesus Christ who is Himself the essence of communication vividly expressed in n. 122 as follows:

"The Word of God is by nature word, dialogue and communication. He came to restore on the one hand communication and relations between God and humanity, and on the other those of the people with one another" (n. 71). "The theological point of departure is Christ, the Communicator par excellence who shares with those who believe in him the truth, the life and the love which he shares with his Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit" (n. 122).

In n. 71 it is again stated that:

"Today in fact the mass media constitute not only a world but also a culture and civilisation. And it is also to this world that the Church is sent to bring the Good News of salvation". The task of the agents of evangelization is to "enter this world in order to allow themselves to be permeated by this new civilization and culture for the purpose of learning how to make good use of them".

This necessitates training for all pastoral agents, particularly the "preachers", who must master the media style of communication, more so, on a continent where oral transmission remains an important feature of culture.

Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, who is by nature communication, restored authentic communication and communion between God and humanity and among human beings themselves. Therefore, promotion of authentic communication is sine qua non to the process of building God’s Kingdom. Hence, n. 122 of Ecclesia in Africa, stresses the need for the Church to foster communication both from within (ad intra) and outside (ad extra). Promotion of communication from within the Church through a better diffusion of information among the members will "put her in a more advantageous position to communicate to the world the Good News of the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ". The Church’s mission ad extra can be promoted through the following traditional forms of communication: song, music, mime, theatre, proverbs and fables. These are very useful and effective despite the pervading nature of modern media. They are even less costly and more accessible than the modern ones. They are not only vehicles of the wisdom and soul of the people, but also a precious source of material and of inspiration for modern media. In n. 124, it is stated that:

Mass media are "a world to be evangelized ... and the message ... they propagate should be the good, the true and the beautiful ... a deep concern about the moral content of very many of their programmes ... with particular reference to pornography, violence and the very negative portrayal of the African ... the communication media are a vehicle for evangelization".

N. 125 presents the variety of the traditional and modern means of social communication that are at the disposal of the Church today. It emphasises the Church’s duty in making the best possible use of these media to spread the message of salvation despite the many obstacles that may impede their easy accessibility. In n. 126 it is stressed that the media, whether private or public, should serve all people without exception. Further in the same number, the Church in Africa is challenged to establish "a more effective co-ordination at all levels: diocesan, national, continental and world-wide" as well as revitalise the existing programmes of continental co-operation such as the Pan-African Episcopal Committee for Social Communication (CEPACS). Other areas that require closer collaboration include professional training, structures of radio and television production and stations that transmit to the whole continent.

Mass media as a culture

One of the implications from the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops (10 April — 8 May, 1994) is that the mass media are not mere instruments that are neutral, value free and employable under any social order. They go beyond the visible machinery and hardware like the radio or television sets to include the organisational structures, administrative hierarchies, the commercial arrangements, the financial networks and even the software that are involved in the production of the radio or television programmes or the newspapers. They are a product of an industrial process that has turned communication into commodities that can be owned, sold and bought according to the dictates of the market. In the market economy, the emphasis is on the efficient production, distribution and consumption of communication goods in order to make profit. Today, information or communication industries are the leading edge of the entire industrial growth. This is because access to, control over, research and development capacity in the information gathering, processing, storage and retrieval are the key to industrial growth. It is a commonly held opinion among scholars today that the mass media have become the information arm of the industrial order.

A consequence of this development is that communication has now become an organised, professional and specialist process which demands the possession of certain competence. To have a voice in our world today means having access to skills, training, modern technology and technical know-how. The industrialisation of communication has also produced what scholars call the communication-industrial complex which can be divided into the following broad categories:

(i) The big electronic industries with heavy investments in both hardware and software

(ii) The large aerospace manufacturers that control much of the advanced communication technology

(iii) The transnational media industries like radio/television networks, publishing houses, news agencies and film industries

(iv) The large industrial conglomerates that have diversified into communication. Through vertical and horizontal integration and diversification, they control over 75 per cent of the international information flow. This is measured in terms of the sale of telecommunications equipment, eletronic information systems, home equipment, films, television programmes, magazines, newspapers, news items, records, advertisements and books.

The mass media propagate a materialistic, individualistic and consumerist culture through its industry. In this culture, society is portrayed as made up of discrete individuals whose needs can be satisfied by consuming more and more industrial products. News is defined in terms of what is new, the latest or the most recent. Emphasis is placed on violence, competition and conflict. The more odd an event is the better its chance of being news.

The consequence of all this for African countries is what has been expressed in the Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, n. 52, as, "... instead of becoming autonomous nations that are able to move their countries towards a just and equitable society, the nations of Africa find themselves as cogs in the gigantic wheel of progress". From the point of view of our Christian faith this situation raises the following questions: What does our faith have to say? Can these instruments of communication be employed to build the Kingdom of God on earth?

The essence of Christian communication

To understand communication and the various media that are inspired by the Christian faith, it is important to start by looking at Jesus. In Ecclesia in Africa it is stated that:

"The theological point of departure is Christ, the Communicator par excellence who shares with those who believe in him the truth, the life and the love which he shares with the Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit" (n. 122).

N. 71 of the same document refers to the nature of God which is characterised by the need to communicate. It is out of this need that God created human beings and entered, in a very special way, into relationship with them. These relationships have reached their culminating point "in these last days" when God speaks to us through His Son, Jesus Christ who is "by nature word, dialogue and communication". Jesus’ mission is "to restore on the one hand communication and relations between God and humanity, and on the other hand those of people with one another".

Human communication goes beyond material things like radio, newspapers, television, etc. It extends to the very nature of God which, in John’s Gospel is referred to as follows, "No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, ever at the Father’s side, who has revealed him" (Jn 1:18). What Christ has revealed to us is, according to Communio et Progressio (CP), "The central mystery of the eternal communion between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who live a single life". In this eternal communion, love is perfectly given and perfectly received and the "feedback" is complete loving. It is in the likeness of this intense loving that God created us. In the process of creating human beings, God fashioned for Himself a reality that reflects His own being; a reality that is capable of receiving His manifestations of love and His desire for communion. Human beings are only complete when they are in communion with others and are able to communicate with them. This act of communication is an innate capability given to people to enable them to express themselves and build relational culture. This is the root of the right to communication, to information and to freedom of expression as a basic human right.

Communio et Progressio, n. 8 states that, "communication is more than the expression of ideas and the indication of emotion. At its most profound level, it is the giving of self in love". Jesus Christ remains the "Perfect Communicator" because He gave the supreme example of self-giving in love. Every word, every action of His, the signs He gave, the way He related to people; everything was meant to translate into human terms what He experienced and knew of the nature of the Father. His purpose for doing this was to restore communication and relationships between human beings and God as well as among human beings themselves and establish them as members of God’s family.

For Christians, therefore, the ultimate aim of all communication is the promotion of understanding, love, unity, communion and community. This must be the criterion for evaluating all forms of communication. Starting with the oral communication (the way Christians speak and gesticulate) to the written form of communication (the books they write, the newspapers they publish) to the electronic communication (the radio and television programmes they broadcast and the way they package the news stories) the fundamental question that they should bear in mind is: Does or will this enhance brotherhood, communion and the culture of sharing? The answer will be far from the way communication is being carried out today. Profit is the motive behind the continuous expansion and production of communication technology today. Besides, the media are often conditioned to serve the interests of political powers at the expense of the universal and basic human values. The manipulative use of the radio and print media by the Hutu Ruling Authority to promote racial hatred, intolerance and violence which culminated in the 1994 Rwanda genocide is a classic example.

Today, the media are concentrated in the urban areas and in the hands of the élite. Being urban based, they are often urban oriented and cater mostly for the needs and tastes of the urban dwellers. For instance, news is limited to what important people do. What happens to ordinary people becomes news only if it touches significantly on the lives of the great, if it is bizarre or if the journalist indulges in human interest. Despite these shortcomings, the media are God’s gift for the building of His Kingdom. That is why, Ecclesia in Africa suggests that the Church in Africa enter into the world of the media to evangelize it. The Church is to ensure that the message the media propagate is honest, true and beautiful. In n. 124, it is stated that, "Every Christian, should be concerned that the communications media are a vehicle of evangelization".

Evangelizing the media: the task for every Christian

In Ecclesia in Africa it is pointed out that:

"Christians who are professionals in this sector have a special part to play. It is their duty to ensure that Christian principles influence the practice of the profession, including the technical and administrative sector" (n. 124).

The people being addressed here are of two categories:

(i) All Christians

The term, "Christians" embraces Bishops, priests, religious (men and women) and the laity expressed in Ecclesia in Africa as follows:

"The most important [resource], after the grace of Christ, is the people. The whole People of God in the theological understanding of Lumen Gentium — this People, which comprises the members of the Body of Christ in its entirety — has received the mandate, which is both an honour and a duty, to proclaim the Gospel" (n. 53).

Depending on his or her specific role in the Church, each Christian has the "honour" and "duty" to imbue the world of the media with the Gospel of Christ. This is a major challenge because many Christians who are not professional media people hardly see the world of the media as a field for their evangelizing mission. Even when they accept this as a duty, they often feel that they lack the competency to make any impact. One of the reasons for this feeling is because most often people limit their understanding of the world of the media to only one of the three levels of social interaction, namely, that of the mass level where one person speaks to many simultaneously. But this is not the sole level at which humans interact. The other two social levels include the interpersonal and the group where, each level requires communication with its appropriate media.

The interpersonal level refers to those activities that are carried on between two people at a given time, on a face-to-face basis. The appropriate media include the verbal communication through word, language, conversation and the non-verbal such as voice, listening, silence, the use of space, time, the body through the use of eyes, mouth, hands, trunk, physical appearance, dress, clothing and cosmetics.

Group media consists of two or more people who see themselves as a separate entity from others. They pursue shared goals through an interaction that is characterised by dialogue, participation, mutual understanding, shared meaning and experiences. The appropriate media here include drama, song, dance, poetry, festivals, painting, sculpture, photographs, posters, records, pamphlets, tracts, slides, audio and video cassettes, films, etc.

Most of the media of communication on these two levels of social interaction are within the reach of every person. But, it is a pity that up till now, little attention has been paid to them when structuring evangelization strategies. During the African Synod, the Synod Fathers alluded to the interpersonal and group levels of social interaction by asserting that, "More than proclamation of ideas, evangelization is a witness of individual and community life which is truly Christian and which responds to the exigencies and values of the Gospel". This is true. But, not much is said about communication and its attendant media.

When the Holy Father challenges every Christian "to imbue the world of the media with the Gospel of Christ" he means that each, in accordance with his or her role in the Church, has the honour and the duty of evangelizing the means of social communication at the three levels of social interaction. For instance, the language used to bring up children at home, the type of stories shared with them are veritable means by which to bring them up as Christians and create a Christian atmosphere in the homes. The posters hung in the sitting-rooms, the holy pictures used as book-markers, etc. have a subtle way of filling people’s minds with things that are Christian and which can elevate their thoughts to things that are holy and wholesome. I still can recollect vividly the impact that the holy pictures we were given in the Minor Seminary had on my spiritual development and growth.

The art-form of traditional songs and dances can be adapted to express faith contents and communicate the Gospel message. Many young artists produce Christian songs, yet Catholic beliefs and practices are not articulated through this means. Talented Catholics need to be encouraged to take this up as their own contribution to evangelization.

An area that has been totally neglected is the coming together of the People of God every Sunday worship. This can easily be made a simple, obvious and recurring opportunity for communication and evangelization. The appropriate media here include the liturgy and its various parts like the songs, the prayers, the readings, the homily and the offertory procession. Others are the parish bulletin, the notice-boards, the posters, the simple cassette players, etc. All these can be creatively employed to communicate meaning and share experiences of faith. The poets in various parishes can be encouraged to turn their faith experiences into poems, stories and songs, whereas the playwrights can write plays with religious meaning. The composers, painters, carvers, etc. can be assisted to celebrate their faith in Jesus through their talents.

One advantage of such a participatory approach is that the members of the parish will not only reach out to others, but will also grow in their faith. They will be transformed from mere passive church-goers into men and women of vision, ideas, faith, hope and love, ready to commit themselves and their talents to the service of Jesus and His Kingdom. Despite the fact that mass communication is beyond the power of an individual Christian, individuals can still do a lot to evangelize this area. For instance, in the section of television and video viewing, parents can form the viewing habits of their children. This was expressed in the following Holy Father’s Message for 1994 World Communications Day:

"Forming children’s viewing habits will sometimes mean simply turning off the television set: because there are better things to do, because consideration for other family members requires it, or because indiscriminate television viewing can be harmful. Parents who make regular, prolonged use of television as a kind of electronic baby-sitter surrender their role as the primary educators of their children".

 

The Church has to maintain a presence in the world of the media that is vigorous, effective and concrete. Some people have even advocated for the Church’s participation in owning broadcast and print media. It is, however, worth mentioning that as important as Catholic newspapers, radio and television stations are, they can only reach a small portion of the population. The Church has to combine owning these media with imbuing the general media culture with Christian values. This can only be done when the growing number of Catholic media professionals are assisted to perceive their competency as God-given vehicles for proclaiming the Gospel values.

(ii) The media professionals

In n. 124 of Ecclesia in Africa it is pointed out that the task facing media professionals is "to ensure that Christian principles influence" all aspects of "the practice of their profession". However, the major problem here is that in their training, general orientation and conditions of work, there is a dichotomy between their faith and their professional life. This is because of the general malaise that is noticeable among most Christians caught up in a culture that privatises religion. But, the time has now come for change as expressed in Ecclesia in Africa thus, to enable them effect the change, "they need to be provided with a wholesome human, religious and spiritual training" (n. 124). This confirms what had been pointed out in n. 75 that:

"In all areas of Church life formation is of primary importance. People who have never had the chance to learn cannot really know the truths of faith, nor can they perform actions which they have never been taught. For this reason, ‘the whole community needs to be trained, motivated and empowered for evangelization, each according to his or her specific role in the church’".

But, the media professionals in Africa are hardly identified as a group. They have neither formed an association nor do they have any particular system of praying together and relating as a body. There is, therefore, a need for them to come together and form associations through which they can pursue their spiritual and material growth. Fortunately, they do not have "to re-invent the wheel", as the saying goes because on the international level there are already Catholic media associations like UNDA (from the Latin word for waves) for those in radio and television, OCIC (translated from French: International Catholic Organisation for Cinema) for those working in the cinema and audio-visuals and UCIP (from French: International Catholic Union of the Press) for professional journalists. Early in 1996, some Catholic publishers came together in Nairobi to form the Catholic Publishers Association in Africa. It is now time to establish and encourage these Associations wherever possible throughout the continent. Besides, to attain the objectives of the African Synod on the Means of Social Communication, the Church in Africa needs to structure properly its media apostolate.

The need to structure media apostolate in Africa

Ecclesia in Africa states that:

Closer co-operation is needed in this area, in order to ensure more effective co-ordination at all levels: diocesan, national, continental and world-wide. In Africa, the Church has a great need for solidarity with sister Churches in the richer and technologically more advanced countries. Programmes of continental co-operation which exist in Africa, like the Pan African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS) should be encouraged and revitalised.... Other areas where collaboration is needed include professional training, structures of radio and television production, and a continental radio station (cf. n. 126).

If the Church in Africa understands itself to be a family, then there should be no problem in accepting the challenge to which it is being called. Every member of a family has to cooperate with the rest to ensure the success of a family enterprise. In such a family, those who are more endowed than others come to the help of those less endowed. This is why the African Synod appealed to the Church in the more technologically advanced nations to come to the help of the Church in Africa. This can take various forms: money, training facilities, scholarship, exchange of programmes and personnel, particularly in the area of training and setting up of the media houses like radio and television stations. In this area, a lot of collaboration is already going on between the Church in Africa and the sister Churches of Europe and America. The question, however, is: What are the existing structures on the ground that can make this more effective? They are:

(i) The Bishops component of the axis

The communication activities of the Church ought to be structured along the Bishops-Media Practitioners Axis. As shepherds to whom God has entrusted the flock He obtained by the Blood of His Son, Bishops have the onus of organising and supervising the media aspect of the apostolates in their Dioceses. This is largely done through their collaborators: priests, men and women religious and the laity. Ideally, each bishop ought to establish in his Diocese a structure that will assist him in this area as expressed in n. 88 of Ecclesia in Africa thus:

"In order to accomplish this (i.e. pastoral co-ordination), the Diocese is to establish the necessary structures for getting together, dialogue and planning. By making use of these structures the Bishop will be able to guide in a suitable manner the work of priests, religious and laity, welcoming the gifts and charisms of each one, in order to put them at the service of an updated and clear-sighted plan of pastoral action".

It is imperative for each Diocese to have a Diocesan Communication Commission (DCC) made up of representatives of each Parish Communications Committee (PCC) as well as trained priests, religious and seasoned media practitioners. It will advise the Bishop on all issues of communication and assist him to formulate policies regarding this sector in collaboration with the universal Church, the Church in Africa and the National Bishops’ Conference. The Chairman of a DCC should preferably be a priest so that he may be appointed to the Bishops’ Senate where he will be able to keep the issues of communication on the agenda of that body which assists the Bishop in the governance of the Diocese in accordance with the provisions of Canon Law (cf. 1983 Code of Canon Law, n. 495). It is different from a Diocesan Communications Office, which is very often seen as a "Bishop’s Office" and, therefore, of little concern to most people in the Diocese.

On the parish level, it is advisable to form a Parish Communications Committee (PCC) as a standing committee of the Parish Pastoral Council through which social communication can become an important component of the pastoral activities of the local Church at the grassroots level. The PCC will assist the parish priest in terms of advice and the implementation of the communication sector of the pastoral plan of the Diocese and the parish.

If the country is large and has many church provinces, there should be a Provincial Communications Commission. It will function under the presidency of the Bishop appointed by the Provincial Bishops’ Conference to take charge of matters of communication in the province. Here, membership will be made up of mainly the priest-chairmen of the DCC within the province and representatives of the media practitioners. The National Communications Commission (NCC) should also be formed by the provincial chairmen, provincial secretaries and representatives of the media practitioners. It will function under the presidency of the Bishop appointed by the National Bishops’ Conference, while the executive secretary of the Department of Social Communications of the National Bishops’ Conference will serve as its secretary. This body will assist the National Bishops’ Conference to formulate policies, co-ordinate activities and share resources nation-wide.

The Church in Africa has a coordinating structure on the continental and regional levels. There are nine Regional Bishops’ Conferences in Africa with two in West Africa, two in North Africa, two in Central Africa, one in East Africa, one in Southern Africa and finally one in Madagascar and its surrounding Islands. Each of these Conferences is advised to have a Regional Communications Commission (RCC). This will be made up of the presidents and the secretaries of the National Communications Commissions in that region. On the continental level, there is the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) with its Secretariat in Accra, Ghana. SECAM is not a supra-conference that dictates what other Bishops’ Conferences should do. But, it is a forum where the Bishops of Africa can collectively face their collegial responsibilities in order to support efforts taken at the regional and the national levels. A Department of SECAM has been established to animate and co-ordinate social communications activities on the regional and continental levels. It is the Pan African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications, known by its French initials as CEPACS. N. 126 of Ecclesia in Africa encourages the Church in Africa to revitalise it.

As a way of carrying out this mandate, CEPACS should become a Commission of SECAM instead of the Committee that it is now. As a Commission, it can then have as its members the regional presidents and secretaries. Its president, chosen from among these regional presidents, should also be a member of the Standing Committee of SECAM. This will ensure a two-way flow of information between CEPACS and SECAM Standing Committee. Representatives of the continental bodies of the media practitioners should also be members of such a continental body.

(ii) The media practitioners-component of the axis

Here, the term media practitioners is used as a working tool to describe all those who work in and for the various media; a group that is least organised in the Church in Africa. N. 124 of Ecclesia in Africa is addressed to them as follows:

"Every Christian should be concerned that the communications media are a vehicle of evangelization. But Christians who are professionals in this sector have a special part to play. It is their duty to ensure that Christian principles influence the practice of the profession, including the technical and administrative sector. To enable them to exercise this role properly, they need to be provided with a wholesome human, religious and spiritual training".

A major question to be answered by the Church in Africa is: How can these people be provided with "a wholesome human, religious and spiritual training" when they are not properly organised? The response lies in the Holy Father’s call to encourage and revitalise the existing programmes. One of the ways by which the Church in Africa can begin to respond positively to this challenge is by ensuring that the existing four Associations — UNDA, OCIC, UCIP and ACPA — are properly established from the parish to the continental level. This is where the Bishops’ structure described above becomes handy. If the Episcopal Commissions for Social communications are functioning on all levels right from the parish to the continental, it will be easy for the Church in Africa to provide the type of training demanded by the Holy Father. There is, therefore, urgent need to establish faculties of higher learning where these people can be given such training. Here, it is important to mention that the Catholic Institutes based in Abidjan and Zaire have already taken the lead in this area. It now remains for the English speaking Bishops’ Conferences to follow suit.

Conclusion

Communication is both a tool and a field for evangelization. As a tool of evangelization, the point of departure is Jesus Christ Himself who is Word, Dialogue and Communication. Since the Incarnation of the Word, all communication has one aim, namely, to be at the service of the mission of the Word and as such should be directed towards building communion between God and human beings as well as deepening relational culture among people. From this flows the task of the pastoral agents. They have been challenged by the African Synod to enter into this world and culture of communication and evangelize it in order to render it useful for evangelization. This demands training on all sides. Training demands collaboration and revitalisation of the existing structures. The net result is that in so doing the Church in Africa will be building up the Kingdom of God.

Ref.: AFER, Vol. 40, n. 2, April 1998.