Fr. Njihia who serves as Parish Priest of ADN’s St. Joseph Freinademetz Ruai Parish called upon Catholic journalists to take their practice as a calling.
“Whatever they are doing it’s not a job but a call that is giving meaning to life especially helping in evangelization,” he said during the celebration that media entities in ADN organized for WCD 2023, the annual event that has been marked on Sunday before Pentecost since 1967 when Pope Paul VI established it.
Celebrated globally under the theme, “Speaking with the Heart, the Truth with Love”, WCD 2023 held at Diwopa was organized by the 15 Catholic media houses in Nairobi Archdiocese.
These include the Paulines Publications Africa, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops Communications (KCCB), the National Mirror, the Archdiocese of Nairobi, the New People Media Centre, the Messenger of Mary Immaculate, and Radio Maria Nairobi.
Others are Bayard Publications, the Bosco Eastern Africa Multimedia Services (BEAMS), the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa(AMECEA), The Seed magazine, Loyola Center for Media and Communications, Radio Waumini, Capuchin TV, and the Association for Catholic Information in Africa (ACI Africa).
In the May 21 interview with ACI Africa, Fr. Njihia went on to highlight the challenges Catholic journalists are facing, including limited resources, and the need for capacity building, adding that such limitations notwithstanding, they need not “be discouraged in communicating the truth to society.”
Speaking about initiatives in ADN, he said, “We have a communication department in the Archdiocese of Nairobi that is empowering journalists in Catholic doctrine, context, history, and success.”
“There are many untold stories of success that have been forgotten in the context of the church,” he further said, and added in reference to staff in the communication department of ADN, “We will continue to equip them with knowledge so they can tell these stories.”
Fr. Njihia also advocated for media freedom, which he said is essential for Kenya’s development, and urged Kenyans authorities to “see the media as their partners, not enemies or adversaries.”
Patrick Juma Wani is a South Sudanese journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. Patrick holds a Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication from Makerere Institute for Social Development (MISD) in Uganda. He has over 7 years of extensive experience in leading the development and implementation of media, advocacy, communication and multimedia strategy and operations, with an excellent track record of editorial leadership, budget management, and stakeholder outreach. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.
