Catholic Communicators in Central Africa Urged to Uphold Transparency, Impartiality as “frontline” Evangelizers

08 February, 2026 | ACI Africa

Catholic communicators serving in countries under the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACERAC) have been urged to exercise their apostolate with transparency and impartiality, recognizing their role as “frontline” agents of evangelization.

In a final statement issued at the close of the 13th ACERAC Plenary Assembly, held in the Catholic Archdiocese of N’Djamena in Chad, the Local Ordinaries from Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo-Brazzaville call on Catholic media practitioners across the six member countries to strengthen professionalism in their service to the Church and society.

“Dear members of the ACERAC Media Family, you are among the agents of evangelization engaged on the front line. We invite you to always operate with complete transparency and communicate in a spirit of impartiality,” they say.

In their collective statement following their January 25 to February 1 Plenary Assembly, ACERAC members further emphasize that credibility, ethical consistency, and professional rigor are essential for Catholic media to effectively fulfill their evangelizing mission in a complex and rapidly evolving communication environment.

“Develop greater professionalism in the processing and transmission of information,” they tell Catholic media practitioners, adding, “Use new means of information and communication, particularly social media and artificial intelligence, responsibly and discerningly, so that they become true tools of evangelization.”

The Catholic Church leaders further urge communicators to “strive to ensure peace and communion in our families and in our society.”

They go on to express optimism, saying that they hope actions of Catholic communicators in the sub-region “will not contribute to exacerbating intra- and inter-ecclesial and socio-political tensions and contradictions, nor to excluding non-dominant opinions.”

Organized under the theme, “The challenges of the Church, Family of God in Central Africa: 30 years after Ecclesia in Africa,” ACERAC members used the Plenary to celebrate the 30th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s 1995 Post-Synodal Exhortation, “Ecclesia in Africa” that was promulgated in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

In their statement, ACERAC members highlight the fruits of the Exhortation that followed the 1994 Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops which was held in Rome.

They also reflect on the challenges the Church in Africa is still experiencing in light of the document that was also promulgated in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 17 September 1995, and in Nairobi, Kenya, on 19 September 1995.