Nairobi, 05 December, 2023 / 9:30 pm (ACI Africa).
Creating more “awareness and visibility” of the Pan-African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS), and the development of a long-term strategic plan are among the envisaged plans to revamp the entity of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).
In a statement shared with ACI Africa on December 2, days after concluding the four-day Golden Jubilee celebrations of the continental entity that brings together the eight Catholic Bishops at the helm of the Commission of Social Communications in the eight regional conferences of SECAM, and their President, Africa’s Catholic Bishops and communication professionals express their commitment to enhancing individual and joint “structured coordination of social communication in meeting the noble objectives of the Church on the continent.”
“We… resolve to enhance awareness and visibility of CEPACS, its mission, vision, and objectives at all levels of the Church in the African continent through the regional and national conferences; and all Ecclesial communities,” they say.
The five-page communique also outlines plans to “develop and strengthen CEPACS operational structures across the continent to facilitate engagement in a collective communication and synodal journey as well as grow together at the diocesan, national, regional, continental, and universal levels.”
The need to “form and capacity-build the CEPACS continental Committee and define its relationship with the regional and national episcopal conferences for the future” are additional plans of action outlined in the statement that the Presidents of CEPACS, Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of Nigeria’s Oyo Diocese, the Social Communication Coordinator of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA), Fr. Andrew Kaufa, consigned.
