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Lagos (Agenzia Fides) – The Bishops of Nigeria are making increasing efforts to ensure that the study of communications forms an integral part of the formation of future priests and religious in the country. Thus, the Catholic Secretariat of Social Communications in Nigeria has organized formation workshops for mass media instructors in the province.
According to a statement sent to Agenzia Fides from Fr. Ralph Madu, Director of Social Communications for the Nigerian Bishops' Conference, Bishop Emmanuel Badejo (Auxiliary of Oyo and President of the Social Communications Office of the Nigerian Bishops' Conference) met with a group of instructors in Lagos on September 28, 2009.
Bishop Badejo affirmed: “I would be glad to see this kind of encounter as part of a study plan in our course, with a special attention to the new media technology, such as Social Networking, which continue to form new areas for relating among people.”
The Bishop added that he hoped that the participants in the seminar would be ready to discern among the various aspects of modern relevance, in responding to the identity crisis that often torments those dedicated to the new forms of media, in regards to determining the complex nature of the modern use of this “language.” Bishop Badejo highlighted the importance of acquiring a minimum level of familiarity with information technology, to respond to the modern forms of technological illiteracy, but also recalled the need to be aware of the pervasive culture of the internet, in which information is consumed and produced at the same time. It is a situation, he said, that calls for a critical thinking process in order to examine the new ethics of media and communications technology.
The Bishop concluded that “for the moment, these seminars are taking place in 9 provinces, but in the future they could be organized in houses of formation in need of support and formation in the area of the mass media.”
The workshop, which is set to begin on November 14, 2009, in the Province of Owerri, at Seat of Wisdom Seminary, is focused on how infrastructures for telecommunications can help in formation in seminaries, the importance of the new forms of audio-visual communication in the processes of learning and teaching, on human and specifically African principles of communication, and on communications ethics. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 5/10/2009)
