Catholic Media Houses in Nairobi Conducting Awareness Campaign ahead of Communications Day

He listed the media houses as the Paulines Publications Africa, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops Communications (KCCB), the National Mirror, the Archdiocese of Nairobi, the New People Media Centre, the Messenger of Mary Immaculate, and Radio Maria Nairobi.

Others include Bayard Publications, the Bosco Eastern Africa Multimedia Services (BEAMS), the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa(AMECEA), The Seed magazine, Loyola Center for Media and Communications, Radio Waumini, Capuchin TV, and the Association for Catholic Information in Africa (ACI Africa).

In the May 20 interview, Fr. Bwalya said that the objective of the campaign is to inform the faithful that “this celebration does not only concern the media but all of us as Catholics because the Pope, on this day, issues a message that is addressed to the whole Church.”

The Zambian-born member of the Comboni Missionaries said that the awareness campaign involves sharing the Message of the Holy Father for this year’s WCD.

The Catholic media houses in Nairobi Archdiocese are also expected to share the Holy Father’s Message on their respective platforms ahead of WCD, to be marked on May 29.

Members from the 15 Catholic media houses in Nairobi Archdiocese will celebrate WCD at the Holy Family Minor Basilica in Nairobi on May 29, Fr. Bwalya said, adding that Holy Mass will be celebrated during the event that will also involve exhibitions.

The Director of New People Media Centre who doubles as the Editor of New People, a Comboni missionary magazine, said that two Kenyan government officials have been invited to the May 29 event, to interact with representatives of the 15 Catholic media houses in Nairobi Archdiocese.

A section of representatives of Catholic Media Houses in Nairobi Archdiocese at a meeting on 3 March 2022. Credit: Fr. Isaac Maina, SDB/BEAMS/Nairobi

He said, “We have invited our partners in the media fraternity; we have invited people from the government from the ministry of Information and Communications technology (ICT), and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the media council of Kenya.”

The two government officials, Fr. Bwalya said, “will attend the exhibitions, Holy Mass, and then we will have lunch together as we hear from them.”

The WCD awareness campaign by the Catholic media houses in Nairobi Archdiocese has already been undertaken in one Parish, he told ACI Africa, adding that the campaign involved sharing of flyers bearing the Holy Father’s Message for WCD. 

Various media houses also got a chance to showcase their products to parishioners, Fr. Bwalya said about the May 1 event at St. Monica’s Njiru Parish of the Archdiocese of Nairobi.

“We have visited one Parish and the reaction was very good; the Parish team including the Parish Priest and the faithful were warm to us and the people responded overwhelmingly,” he said about the May 1 initiative.

A good number of the faithful at the Kenyan Parish “had no idea of the existence of most Catholic media houses”, Fr. Bwalya said, and added, “We were happy that we could showcase our media products; we also animated the Holy Masses and explained the Message of the Pope.”

Established in 1967 by Pope Paul VI, WCD provides an opportunity to reflect on the challenges and opportunities of modern means of communication.

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A section of representatives of Catholic Media Houses in Nairobi Archdiocese at a meeting on 3 March 2022. Credit: Fr. Isaac Maina, SDB/BEAMS/Nairobi

In the May 20 interview with ACI Africa, Fr. Bwalya made reference to the spirit behind Pope Paul VI’s decision to establish WCD saying, “As media houses in the Archdiocese (Nairobi), we have carried on with the same spirit, and we want to raise this awareness that development in communication is good for us Christians; that technology can be used for good purposes, so we want to celebrate that.”

“We also want to encourage people, the Christians in the Archdiocese of Nairobi, to be aware of our existence as Catholic Media Houses; for this reason, we exhibit and showcase what we produce as various Catholic media houses, some with print, electronic and digital content,” the Nairobi-based Catholic Priest told ACI Africa.

Catholic Media houses in the Archdiocese of Nairobi are trying to fill the gap left by the secular media, he further said, adding that the secular media do not cover some of the content that is important for the public.

In conducting the awareness campaign in the Archdiocese of Nairobi, Fr. Bwalya said, the people of God in the Archdiocese are “not only to have knowledge of the Catholic media”, they are also being encouraged “to consume our media content.”