“Most of these phones are in the hands of teenagers and young adults who are already driving change in many ways, especially in the political, economic, educational, and entertainment realms,” the Local Ordinary of Oyo Diocese said, and added, “You can imagine what power exists here for evangelization and transmission if Christians among them take the responsibility for changing the world and their country for the better.”
Bishop Badejo found it unfortunate that Mission Sunday lacks the effort of the digital missionaries who he said, have all it takes to “vigorously” promote the spirit and the message of the gospel in the digital space.
“Many of us engaged in physical activities to promote the mission but surely, many more of our faithful would have done even more on the social media and other digital platforms,” he said.
Encouraging digital missionaries' efforts in future Mission Sundays, Bishop Badejo emphasized the need for youths and “other digital inhabitants” to do more and to “be more deliberate and more committed to promoting the Gospel and Christian values online.”
He further urged African digital-savvy Christians to become missionaries of Jesus Christ by countering “the negativity” he said is found online with messages of goodness, peace, and Christian values.
The member of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication since his appointment in December 2021 stressed the importance of deliberately countering fake news, violence, and harmful content on social media with truth, justice, and respect for human dignity.
“Those who already use mobile phones for communicating, listening to the radio, watching movies, transferring money, shopping, mobilizing for action, mingling on social media and more, should now also use it for spiritual, positive values, counseling, evangelization, and catechizing others,” he said.
He added, “If the internet and social media are today polluted with fake news, bad news, violence, pornography negativity, and other vices, it is only because somebody put those vices there.”
“Time is now overdue for every Christian to deliberately overwhelm the vices and evil in this world with messages of God’s goodness and Christian values,” the Catholic Bishop of Oyo Diocese, who also serves as the President of the Pan African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS), an entity of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), emphasized.
Bishop Badejo further encouraged digital missionaries to adopt “the agenda” of the ongoing synodality period which he says seeks to “overwhelm war with peace and always to seek communion over division and discrimination”.
