Diocese of Sumbawanga Official Contact Details 

THE WORLD OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

AND COMMUNICATIONS

The Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa saw the modern media not only as means of communication, but themselves a world to be evangelized. The media should stand at the service of an authentic communication, which is a priority in Africa, since they are a significant force for the development of the diocese of sumbawanga and for evangelization. “The media can make an important contribution towards the growth in communion of the human family and the ethos of society when they are used to promote universal participation in the common search for what is just.”. Everyone knows that the new information technologies are capable of being powerful instruments for unity and peace, but also for destruction and division. From a moral standpoint they can offer either a service or a disservice, propagate truth as well as falsehood, propose what is base as well as what is beautiful. The flood of news or non-news, to say nothing of images, can

be informative but also powerfully manipulative. Information can readily become disinformation, and formation deformation. The media can be a force for authentic humanization, but just as easily prove dehumanizing. The media can avoid this danger if “they are geared towards a vision of the person and the common good that reflects truly universal values. Just because social communications increase the possibilities of interconnection and the dissemination of ideas, it does not follow that they promote freedom or internationalize development and democracy for all. To achieve goals of this kind, they need to focus on promoting the dignity of persons and peoples; they need to be clearly inspired by charity and placed at the service of truth, of the good, and of natural and supernatural fraternity.”

The Church needs to be increasingly present in the media so as to make them not only a tool for the spread of the Gospel but also for educating the African peoples to reconciliation in truth, and the promotion of justice and peace. A solid formation in ethics and truthfulness will help journalists to avoid the attraction of the sensational, as well as the temptation to manipulate information and to make easy money. Christian journalists should not be afraid to show their faith! They should be proud of it! The presence and activity of competent lay faithful in the world of public and private communications should also

be encouraged. Like leaven in the dough, they will continue to testify to the positive and constructive contribution which the teaching of Christ and his Church makes to the world.. In this way, the decision of the First Special Assembly for Africa to consider communications as a major axis of evangelization has proved fruitful for the development of Catholic media. It would perhaps also be suitable to coordinate existing structures, as is already being done in certain areas. Such an improvement in the use of media will contribute to a greater promotion of the values upheld at the Synod: peace, justice and reconciliation in Africa, and will enable the continent to achieve