Fides Media Living the Faith
Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha, Most Rev. Denis Chidi Isizoh on Sunday, May 16, stated that Pope Francis’ 2021 World Communications Day Message is a prophetic end to the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic and its protocols, which has restricted physical contact and forced many people into life of isolation.
Bishop Isizoh, who is the Episcopal Chairman, Social Communication, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), stated this in his homily at St. Gabriel’s Chaplaincy, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Abuja, where he celebrated the 2021 WCD. “Prophetically, the Pope’s message is a post-covid19 invitation of hope. Covid19 protocols must not forever condition our movement and our relationship with others”.
According to Bishop Isizoh, the theme of the 2021 WCD, “Come and See”, could not have come at a better time than now. “Since last year the Coronavirus pandemic, with the restrictions imposed on us, has brought about a new communication culture: masking of our faces and observing social distancing, and greeting with elbows when we meet one another. We have been forced to live in isolation, being contented to relate with others outside family circles virtually.
“The invitation to “come and see” and “to hit the road” is an encouragement to meet people in their actual context of life. It is an invitation to move away from reporting events that are speculative, third-hand, unverified and sometimes fictitious. It is a call to meet people face-to-face, first-hand with a touch of “freshness and vitality”. The Pope is drawing attention to the great value of physical closeness”, Bishop Isizoh declared.
Speaking on the security challenges in Nigeria, the Bishop Chairman, drew the attention of our political leaders not to give deaf ears to the cries of the people. “Political leaders are also invited to “come and see”. A good leader must know the actual background of the electorate. It is this first-hand knowledge that should guide provision of social amenities, roads, water, good education, and quality life”.
Meanwhile, the CSN’s Director of Social Communications, Very Rev. Fr. Mike Nsikak Umoh, who concelebrated with Bishop Isizoh at the Holy Mass, applauded the media for its role and sacrifice right from Independence to the present democratic dispensation.
Fr. Umoh noted that communication is important in the development of any nation, and that it has always been the position of the Church that communication is primarily for and about the good of the human person and advancement of his society.
(SOURCE: CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE OF NIGERIA)