Kenya: Make media a pulpit of hope and a mirror of truth

Sr. Mary Adelaide Ndilu, I.H.M. - Nairobi

Bishop Wallace recently spoke to Catholic media practitioners and journalists managing Catholic media outlets gathered in Nairobi for the opening of their Annual Consultative Meeting, calling on them to be communicators of Hope.

Integrate faith and technology

Emphasising this year’s theme: Deepening Collaboration and Building Capacity for Effective Evangelization and Ethical Media Engagement, he noted that discussions on collaboration, communications policy, safeguarding, gaming in media, and the use of artificial intelligence highlight the urgent need to integrate faith and technology responsibly.

“Artificial Intelligence,” he said, “while a powerful tool, must serve human dignity and truth. Technology without ethics becomes manipulation,” adding that Catholic media’s response must always uphold life, freedom, and moral conscience.

Communication is the soul of Synodality

The Bishop further noted that the meeting coincided with the Church’s journey of Synodality -walking together in communion, participation, and mission. “Communication is the soul of Synodality; without genuine listening and dialogue, communion cannot exist, he remarked.

He observed that through communication, “we can renew culture, restore trust, and bear witness to the beauty of the Gospel in today’s world”

The Bishop of the Kenya Military Ordinariate called for collaboration among Catholic media outlets, stating that this collaboration is not just about working together for efficiency or convenience but “is a sacramental expression of communion.”

“Just as the Church is one Body with many members (1 Corinthians 12:12 - 27), each radio station, television channel, publication and diocesan office contributes uniquely to the mission of evangelization," he commended.

Collaboration and capacity-building

He pointed out the need to equip “ourselves with knowledge, skills and discernment for better evangelization,” observing that, by combining collaboration and capacity-building, Catholic media transforms from mere broadcasting into transformative ministry.

“The Church looks to us as her modern apostles of the airwaves, evangelists with microphones and cameras, carrying Christ to the ends of the earth. Let us always play our role inspired by the Word, strengthened by faith, and united in mission, so that through our communication, the truth of the Gospel may resound from every frequency, every screen and every write-up,” he commended.

The meeting, organised by the Commission for Social Communications in collaboration with its Chair, Bishop Wallace, saw Sr. Nina Benedikta Marija from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication in attendance.

Sr. Nina gave the keynote address on Communication Trends and how the Church should respond.