By: Stella Zulu
The Catholic Church in the country, will join the whole Church in the world celebrating the World Communication Sunday, a day that celebrates communication as a tool for evangelization. The Catholic Bishops in Malawi are therefore, inviting all people to learn truthful communication, which was part of first moving encounters of Jesus Christ with the disciples and is also the method for all authentic human communication.
The Church will therefore reflect on the message of the Holy Father, Pope Francis on this year’s World Communications Day titled “Come and See” (John 1: 46). ‘Communicating by Encountering People Where and as They are’ which guides that to tell the truth of life that becomes history, we must be present at the situation and see for ourselves, listen to people’s stories and confront the reality.
The Communication Sunday message by the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) signed by the Bishop Chairman for the Social Communications and Research Commission, Right Rev Montfort Stima, has warned against the tendency of sitting behind the computers and write stories without meeting people face to face so that facts are reported which has replaced original investigative reporting in newspapers, radio and web news casts.
“This approach is less and less capable of grasping the truth of things and the concrete lives of people, much less the more serious social phenomena or positive movements at the grass roots level. The crisis of the publishing industry risks leading to a reportage created in newsrooms, in front of personal or company computers and on social networks, without ever ‘hitting the streets’, meeting people face-to-face to research stories or to verify certain situations first hand. Unless we open ourselves to this kind of encounter, we remain mere spectators, for all the technical innovations that enable us to feel immersed in a larger and more immediate reality.’ Reads part of the message
The Bishops also encourages all communicators to adopt the “Come and See” approach to spreading news, derived from the Gospel of John, where Philip told Nathaniel about his encounter with the Messiah, and when he could not believe, he was told to “Come and See” for himself, the only way Christian faith begins, and how it is communicated but also how to test any message and find out the truth.
“Journalism therefore, must be considered as a calling and a mission that calls for the willingness to reach out in the peripherals where no one goes to tell people’s stories. We need this courage and commitment in our journalists, camera operators, editors and directors in the Church and the country”. Continues the message
Further to that, the Catholic Bishops says the internet which has increased the capacity for reporting and sharing, offers us the possibility of timely first-hand information that is often quite useful but demands that all people be responsible as users and consumers.
“Thanks to the Internet we have the opportunity to report what we see, what is taking place before our eyes, and to share it with others. However, the misinformation present on social media has become worrisome and overwhelming. People post fake news and distorted images to hurt others forgetting they are responsible for the communication they make. We all have the responsibility of exposing fake news and be witnesses of the truth”. Reads the message
The Catholic Bishops therefore urges all people, Catholics and non-Catholics, those in communications industry or not, the Clergy and the religious, to refrain from spreading fake news and hearsays but have passion for the truth as we serve the humankind with compassion.
The Church celebrates World Communications Sunday each year on the last Sunday of July and this year, it was postponed to 29th August, the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. The theme for this year’s celebration in “Come and See” (John 1: 46). ‘Communicating by Encountering People Where and as They are’.