Meeting of Catholic Broadcasters in Africa, AMECEA Communication Coordinators Opens with Calls for Enhanced Networking

Nairobi, 26 November, 2025 / 12:20 AM

The President of the Pan African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS) has underscored the importance of strengthening collaboration and networking among Catholic broadcasters and communication Coordinators in Africa.

Speaking to ACI Africa on Tuesday, November 25, on the sidelines of the ongoing meeting for Communication Coordinators and Directors of Catholic-owned television and radio stations on the continent, Bishop Bernadine Francis Mfumbusa described the gathering as “very important,” noting that it provides delegates with an opportunity to explore new and more effective ways of working together.

“We have many televisions in the region, but there is really no networking,” Bishop Mfumbusa said at the official opening day of the five-day event that the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) is hosting at the Mariapolis Piero Centre in Kenya’s Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi (ADN).

The Local Ordinary of Tanzania’s Catholic Diocese of Kondoa added that the November 24–28 meeting themed ‘Strengthening Catholic Television for Evangelization and Collaboration in Africa’ will also explore possible avenues for sharing content, exchanging ideas, and considering the development of “a continental framework for television programming in Africa.”

He clarified that the immediate goal is not to build a single continental television network but to deepen understanding and cooperation among existing Catholic TV networks.

“We have television networks owned by congregations, networks owned by Dioceses, some actually individually. So we are bringing them here together to try to discuss and see if we can network more,” the CEPACS official explained.

The purpose for now, Bishop Mfumbusa explained, is not “building a network as such. We are coming here to understand each other, what we are doing, whether it is in Malawi or whether it is in Nairobi, and then we will see from here what the Bishops say.”

According to the organizers, directors of Catholic-owned TV stations attending the meeting will also have the opportunity to share their “hope and challenges”, particularly on “the future of traditional TV and streaming services in the digital era.”

Participants are also set to receive insights from the Vatican Dicastery for Communication (DFC) on the “trends of communication and the mission of the Church” at the five-day gathering, during which the unveiling for CEPACS 2025-2028 is expected.

Bishop Mfumbusa told ACI Africa during the November 25 interview that the meeting also marks the first occasion where Catholic television programmers and directors from across the continent have come together to reflect on emerging trends and explore opportunities for growth.

The Catholic Bishop who specialized in communication expressed optimism that the delegates are going to benefit from the meeting, especially on how to leverage the new communication channels made possible by digital technology, such as social networks, web-based news platforms, streaming media, and audio-on-demand services, to promote the evangelization mission of the Church in Africa.

He said that a team from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) attending the meeting “are trying to help us by sharing how contemporary trends—such as podcasts and other digital platforms—can be used to advance the Church’s evangelization mission.”

The Tanzanian-born Catholic Church leader emphasized the importance of prayer life, reminding the members of CEPACS, an entity of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), that the success of their efforts should be grounded in faith.

“We must not forget that we need prayer. We need God. We keep praying; we keep asking God to help us,” Bishop Mfumbusa said.