The promotion of the “Citizen Journalists of hope” initiative has been undertaken through planned trainings and film festivals among other “engagements”, he says in the one-page statement shared with ACI Africa.
“In our various workshops, conferences, film festivals, and other practical communication engagements, we have exhorted our members to always paint a holistic picture of the African continent – blending the dark sides with the light shades of hope,” SIGNIS Africa President, who is a Professor of Development Communication and Media Studies says.
He adds, “By providing the forum for Catholic journalists and communicators from different countries, cultures, and languages to interact together, we make the point that communication can unite people despite differences.”
The member of the Clergy of Catholic Diocese of Ahiara in Nigeria reveals that the choice Rwanda as the host of the planned 2026 SIGNIS World Congress “is because we see her as a symbol of hope, rising from adversity to steady growth in human and social development.”
Africa is set to play host, for the first time ever, to the SIGNIS World Congress scheduled to take place in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali, in 2026. The last SIGNIS World Congress took place in the capital city of the Asian nation of South Korea, Seoul, in 2022. Canada’s city of Quebec played host to the 2017 SIGNIS World Congress, after the one of 2014 in the European city of Rome in Italy.
The quadrennial global “assembly provides a platform for participants to engage in substantive discussions, exchange ideas, and contemplate the future trajectory of media and communication,” according to a SIGNIS December 2023 post.
In his message on 2025 WCD, the President of SIGNIS Africa says that the continental entity he heads “reaffirms her commitment to forming her members to continue on the path of being communicators of hope.”
In realizing this commitment, the association will be helping to realize the vision of the late Pope Francis, he says referring to the late Pontiff’s 2025 WCD that has been realized under the theme, “Share with gentleness the hope that is in your hearts” drawn from 1 Pet 3:15-16.
“I dream of a communication capable of making us fellow travelers, walking alongside our brothers and sisters and encouraging them to hope in these troubled times,” Fr. Walter further says citing the message for the WCD 2025.
He adds that the late Pope Francis had a vision of “a communication capable of speaking to the heart, arousing not passionate reactions of defensiveness and anger, but attitudes of openness and friendship.”
