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Today, the 19th of February 2025 marked a landmark in the History of RECOWA-CERAO. The Communications department of RECOWA-CERAO organized a ZOOM CONFERENCE aimed at delving deeper into the message of the Holy Father and all the papers presented to the Communicators drawn from about 334 countries of the world for the just concluded Jubilee of the World of communications.

Present at the ZOOM CONFERENCE ROOM where almost all the Directors of Communications from our West African sub region. Most of the other Directors from other countries in Africa including some Directors of different Catholic radio stations in Africa were in attendance.  Some stakeholders in media and Communications were duly represented. It was indeed a great joy that most of the big names in the Vatican Dicastery for Communications graced this joyful encounter. We had representatives from the German bishops’ Conference, CAMECO, and other Church organizations that are known for Media and Communications.

The Director of Media and Communications for RECOWA-CERAO professionally moderated the Conference which had English and French as the two major languages with simultaneous translations into various other languages. After the opening prayer by Father Fernand Coulibaly from Mali, the moderator explained the reason for the gathering and immediately addressed the first question to one prominent member of the dicastery, Reverend sister Nina KRAPPI. The question dwelt on storytelling which is one of the major topics treated during this pilgrimage which the Holy Father called the primage of Hope. The question therefore addressed to Sister Nina as a member of the dicastery lingered on storytelling as a major instrument in building hope in a desperate world like ours. With a high level of experience, Nina took us through the history lane indicating how the stories of one man can constitute a healing therapy for the other man listening to him. She also took us through the efforts of some sisters scattered all over the world and the efforts they are all making to renew the face of the earth.

In his opinion, still on storytelling Father Anicet GNANVI, who is the Director of Communications for the Benin Conference of Bishops went further in his presentation to explain that storytelling can heal various wounds, physically and psychologically. He cited various examples of people and nations who recovered from ancient wounds through storytelling.

At this point, the panel took up the second stage of the conference as they examined how Communicators can communicate hope in a hopeless world. The question was addressed to Natasa Govekar, who is also a prominent member of the Dicastery for Communications. The question sought to understand how Communicators can communicate hope in their immediate surrounding.  Natasa masterly handled the topic with various historical instances. She explained that there is a group of young Communicators who have presently taken it open themselves to invest in a given initiative aimed at giving hope to a hopeless world. She promised to connect any one from any country who is interested in this movement to the organizers who will eventually visit the country in question with their mechanism.  

It was Michael Unland from CAMECO who made the audience understand that the present world is drifting into a waterloo. In his lecture, he narrated that a great percentage of human beings in our present world spend most of their time on the screen each day. He projected the data to the amazement of all the participants.

There were many other lectures and questions from the participants as the sessions gradually came to an end with prayers and blessings.  

Rev. Fr. George Nwachukwu
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