Rev Fr. Emmanuel Ndubuisi, has described communication-verbal and non-verbal as vital tools for preaching the gospel of love and evangelising the world, a mandate which he said Jesus, the communicator par excellence, handed over to the Apostles, Bishops and Priests. He made this known Wednesday, September 28, 2022 in Lekki, Lagos while delivering a lecture during a communication seminar for priests of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos. Fr. Ndubuisi disclosed that the code of canon made it clear that the call to evangelise and communicate the gospel of love, rest on the Bishops who in turn delegate to the Priest. According to him, the Church should take ownership of the media, as he emphasised that the media whether traditional or inter and intra personal, has become an essential tool of communication. He noted that the advent of the internet-the social media has created several opportunities, especially for the youth to explore, create wealth and project their ideas, opinions and creativity to the rest of the world. According to the Priest, the COVID-19 pandemic became the violent rather than the gentle push to create a new world the Church must embrace to preach the Good News.
He added that the Church’s pastoral plan should be seen as a race to realise set goals; vision and mission of the Church is the revelation of Jesus Christ, the way He is, the epitome of love, giving of self in love, to the point of giving up Himself to redeem the world. He advised that with the coming of the social media, priests shouldn’t underestimate or abandon the traditional or conventional forms of media because they still perform the traditional role of documenting songs, fables, festivals and other cultural nuances peculiar to the people, with the overall objective of promoting communal bonding. He submitted that the social media appears to be the in thing, engaging people’s attention span like never before, however, he said it cannot be a substitute for one-on-one or face-to-face meeting with the people, or even with the Priest and congregation. The facial expression or body language is still the best way to go, he noted. “How can we plan and execute programmes and projects when we only communicate through social media platforms?” He queried. He stated that body language and facial expression matters if people are willing to do exactly what they say and partner with one another to get the job done. He advised the Priests to encourage group communication, listen to one another through the Basic or Small Christian Communities, short videos in mobilising the people for God, thereby instilling sanity in the society. Lamenting what he referred to as the excessive use of theological language to communicate to the people, he insisted that majority of Catholics, need illustrations to understand the gospel and homily.
He noted that the Parish bulletin, noticeboards and other Church publications must be active and alive through simple illustrations. “Is the congregation hearing what the Priest is saying? Are the microphones and sound system in perfect condition?” He asked. He said Priest should paraphrase and beware of their body language when addressing the people, as he added that the use of the conventional media-broadcast and print are indispensable in proclaiming Christ. Speaking on the Archdiocesan courier, the Catholic Herald Newspaper, Fr. Ndubuisi noted that the paper has come to stay as a veritable platform to evangelise, educate, teach the core values of the Church and mobilise the people for Christ in the Archdiocese of Lagos and beyond. He asked the Priests to re-orientate and change the mindset of the faithful, adding that if they cannot buy the hard copy of the paper they can, at least, subscribe to the online version, advertise their businesses and contribute their quota to sustain the publication. He advised the priests to cultivate the habit of inviting the Herald crew to cover their events. Fr. Ndubuisi advised that the Parish Communications Committee be mandated to take charge of all communications activities in the Parish and assist the Priest in relating with the media and coverage of events in the Parish.
Presenting a paper titled, “Social Media Use: Clergy and Laity”, ICT expert, Mr. Timilehin Oyedare emphasised on how to navigate the social media, the sunny and dark side; avoiding the dark side and over exposure. Oyedare listed and demonstrated the different social media platforms and classified them according to needs. He described Facebook as the conspiracy theory platform the Priest and Religious should be mindful of and tread with caution. He said the multiplicity of the platforms exist to serve different interest and taste, stressing that people look up to the Priest for direction, and so they should exercise caution in the use of the social media to avoid scandal and manipulations by those he described as mischief makers. Oyedare described the new media as addictive with over 170 million Nigerian subscribers spending about 3 hours a day surfing the Internet, beating the world average of two hours. “The Clergy must understand the use of the social media; be mindful of what they post, even as they have the need to discuss the Sacraments of the Church on these platforms.
The Church should harmonise and set guidelines on the use of short videos, sermons and other church activities to avoid over exposure which could backfire”, he advised. During the question and answer session, the Clergy were unanimous that the social media has come to stay, but that the Church must now redouble its effort and do the needful to safeguard the Church’s sacred doctrines and traditions from being abused. They warned that non-Catholics, especially, covering events in the Church must be guided to know their boundary and the limit they can take pictures. Earlier in his opening remarks, Very Rev Fr. Anthony Godonu, the Director, Directorate of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, ably represented by Rev Fr. Paul Ariole, Secretary to the Archbishop and Associate Editor, the Catholic Herald newspaper warmly welcomed all participating priests to the event, assuring them that they have everything to gain attending the seminar. Among the Clergy who attended the occasion were Very Rev. Msgr. (Prof) Francis Ogunmodede, Episcopal Vicar, Lekki Region and Parish Priest, Ss. Philip and James, Lekki, Very Rev. Msgr. Gabriel Amolegbe, Dean, Epe Deanery and Parish Priest, Church of Annunciation, Abraham Adesanya, Very Rev. Fr. Stephen Akinsowo, Dean, Ajah Deanery, and Parish Priest, Our Lady Mother and Queen, Badore, among other priests drawn from the three Deaneries of Ajah, Epe and Lekki that make up Lekki Region.
