Alluding to the Synod on Synodality assembly’s call for the formation of “digital missionaries”, a call that the Synthesis Report that came out of the October 2023 session explains and which Africa’s Catholic Bishops have sought to embrace, Bishop Oseso urged Catechists to engage social media and be part of the “digital space”.
“When I talk about using the digital space, it’s because today you can be a missionary, and our mission is a digital mission,” he said, and added, “A digital missionary is someone who speaks in America and I hear them here. It’s you, a catechist, who can have a message here and someone in South Africa can hear you. This is how social media can help us advance and preach the word of God.”
“Even Jesus Christ communicated with His generation using the methods and language of His time; He used His language, proverbs, and stories that people understood; these are the methods He used to bring people closer to Him and spread His message,” the Kenyan Catholic Bishop told the over 3,000 Catechists.
Today, he went on to say, “if you want to change people’s minds, you use social media. It is a powerful tool. We cannot dismiss it and claim we belong to another era; these are the tools we use to advance things, to inform people.”
Bishop Oseso expressed his awareness of the possible negative effects of the digital culture, saying, “These networks can also be harmful; we must enter with caution. There are people with ill intentions, those who insult and destroy. But do not let them stop us from spreading the good news.”
“When they bring insults, let us offer them the good news of Christ. When they bring bad things, let us show that we are people of faith,” he said, adding, “Let us use these tools well, as the Church instructs us, to help inform people of the Truth; and use them to bring freedom to people, not to oppress them.”
May the digital gadgets, the Local Ordinary of Nakuru Diocese since his Episcopal Consecration in May 2023 said, “assist us in communication and spreading the message, but not to remove our humanity.”
Irene Wambui contributed to the writing of this story
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