COMWEEK 2025: Catholic Church Advocates Gentleness In Communication
In an era where loud voices often drown out reason, and digital platforms magnify discord, a quiet revolution in communication is championed by the Catholic Church in Nigeria.
The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), through its Directorate of Social Communications, has held its second annual public lecture in Abuja convening media stakeholders and professionals to reflect on the urgent need for a gentler, more constructive media landscape in the country.
Delivering the opening address on behalf of the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Bishop Lucius Ugorji, and the Episcopal Chairman for Social Communications, Bishop David Ajang, described the event as a beacon of renewal for Nigeria’s media.
He noted that the lecture, which coincides with the global celebration of the 58th World Communications Day, is part of the Church’s broader initiative known as Communications Week (ComWEEK), a national media literacy campaign now recognised by the Vatican and adopted by other African bishops’ conferences.
Keynote speaker, Bishop Gerald Musa of Katsina Diocese, drew on a famous Aesop fable to illustrate the power of gentle communication over force. Comparing today’s media landscape to the blustering Wind- loud, aggressive, and confrontational.
He urged practitioners to emulate the quiet strength of the Sun, whose warmth disarmed resistance.
The lecture also featured a symbolic moment as a posthumous award was presented to the founder of AIT, late Chief Raymond Dokpesi, in recognition of his media support to the Church.
This year’s theme, Media with Gentleness: A Path to Being Narrators of Hope in a Distressed Nation, speaks to the need for calm, empathy, and thoughtful storytelling in a time when Nigeria faces digital disinformation,
