Government through the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology has hailed Catholic Media houses and its practitioners for striving to advance evangelization and development related news hence pledges its support.
Minister responsible, Honourable Nicholas Dausi was speaking in Karonga, Sunday after touring Tuntufye FM, a regional Catholic Radio station belonging to the Diocese of Karonga. Later, the Minister attended The Eucharistic Celebration at St Mary’s Catholic Parish as part of the 51st Communications Sunday celebration for the Catholic Church.
Dausi challenged Catholic media houses to be more professional hence share news which is not pessimistic rather optimistic in nature.
“We should not thrive in bad news or something that is defamatory to our colleagues. Using the Church media is crucial for the evangelization drive,” said Dausi who is also a Catholic Christian.
He said government will work hand in hand with Catholic media houses and that they will offer any support for them to grow and offer better services to the nation.
“I am impressed with the way Tuntufye FM of Karonga diocese is doing. They are doing fine and we will support them,” he said.
His Lordship, Rt. Rev. Martin Mtumbuka of Karonga diocese who presided over The Holy Mass said the Catholic Church is grateful to God for he has given the Church various tools of communication as a way of reaching out to many people with the gospel.
He said the only challenge is that these tools are not used effectively hence the need for mindset change and use them properly.
“I would like to challenge our media houses and those working in these houses to be more professional. We thank God for the gift of all communication tools. However, we are challenging ourselves to use them effectively. We could do much better than what we are doing with our Television Station, Radio Stations and newspapers,” said Bishop Mtumbuka.
He said Catholic media houses should be a source of hope by spreading the good news on the country’s development agenda and on the Catechism.
“Let us offer the message of faith for the glory of God and the development of this nation. We are the ones to champion this and this can be done based on the way we do things. Let’s do things in a coordinated manner and be innovative,” he said.
On this particular day, Bishop Chairman for Social Communications and Research, His Lordship, Rt. Rev. George Tambala, shared the message from Pope Francis in all the Parishes and Churches across the country.
In the message, Pope Francis is encouraging everyone to engage in constructive forms of communication that reject prejudice towards others and instead promote a culture of encounter, helping all to view the world with realism and trust.
“Pope Francis challenges us all to break the various circle of anxiety and stem the spiral of fear that results from a constant focus on bad news such as war, terrorism, scandals and all sorts of human failure,” reads part of the message signed by Bishop Tambala.
The Holy Father’s message further challenges that, “all media practitioners should search for an open and creative style of communication that never seeks to glorify evil but instead to concentrate on solutions and inspire a positive and responsible approach on the part of its recipient.”
The 51st Communications Sunday in Malawi was commemorated under the theme ‘Fear not, for I am with you, ‘Communicating Hope and Trust in our Time’.
The national celebration of the day which was held in Karonga attracted the presence of all the Diocesan Communication Secretaries, Association of Catholic Journalists in Malawi representatives, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology, Justin Saidi and Directors of Catholic Media Houses.
ECM through its Social Communications and Research Commission is among others, mandated to coordinate Catholic media houses which include; Radio Maria Malawi, Radio Alinafe, Tigabane Radio, Tuntufye FM, Luntha Television, Montfort and Likuni Press.