Catholic media called to craft stories that promote the dignity of migrants at the SIGNIS Africa workshop in Maputo

Br. Alfonce Kugwa - Maputo

The workshop, which will run from 25 to 28 March 2025, aims to find empathetic ways of telling stories about migrants and refugees.

Apart from Catholic media, seven Bishops, including the Archbishop of Maputo, Archbishop Joao Carlos Hatoa Nunes; the Chairperson of the Social Communications Commission of the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique, Bishop Antonio Manuel Bogaio Constantino MCCI; and Bishop Bernadin Mfumbusa, CEPACS representative and the Bishop of Kondoa Diocese in Tanzania, were present. Other bishops and government officials from Mozambique were also present.

Migrants and refugees have become a great concern for governments and the Church world over, and the media need to tell stories that promote their dignity and well-being. Hence, the workshop for Catholic journalists to update their skills in covering people on the move.

Bishops and participants at the SIGNIS Africa workshop in Maputo   (Rogério Maduca, Radio Pax (Moçambique))

The Gospel transforming cultures

In his opening remarks, the President of SIGNIS Africa, Fr. Walter Ihejirika, said SIGNIS Africa was animated by the vision of SIGNIS, which is to engage with media professionals and support Catholic Communicators to transform people’s cultures in the light of the Gospel by promoting Human Dignity, Justice and Reconciliation.

“The second impulse that led to this event is our belief that communication plays an integrative role in every human society. The mass media is viewed as the hub of the wheel, connecting the various spokes that support it. This project developed through the collaboration between SIGNIS Africa and the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development. The first phase of the project was carried out in 2023 when we organized a similar workshop for Catholic journalists in Uganda, focusing on refugees,” said Fr. Ihejirika.

Fr.  Ihejirika paid tribute to the Dicastery for Communication and the Pontifical Mission Societies for their support to Catholic media in the global south to enable digital evangelization.

Migrants, stereotypes and algorithmic bias

There are millions of economic, political, social, and religious migrants who are stereotyped as and labelled refugees, aliens, or illegal settlers for lack of a common language to describe them.

Speaking on the “Communicative dimensions of the Church’s vision of migrants from an African perspective,” Bishop Mfumbusa echoed that there was algorithmic bias that exacerbated conflict, poverty, and disease, with the promotion of stereotypes of dystopian societies. He challenged Catholic communicators to come up with a better language that gives migrants and refugees a face, dignity, and integrity.

Bishop Mfumbusa said the drivers of migration range from economic factors, human trafficking, crime syndicates, and environmental challenges, highlighting that there was a lot of bias, disinformation, malinformation, and misinformation in the reportage about migrants and refugees and called upon Catholic journalists to develop a positive narrative concerning people on the move.

“The digital media has implications on the reportage of migrants and refugees, and as journalists, you have the obligation to change the narrative and portray these people in a better and appropriate view,” said Bishop Mfumbusa.

The Bishop encouraged journalists to formulate African Christian narratives that are influenced by Ubuntu in their coverage of migrants and refugees.

Some participants at the SIGNIS Africa event in Maputo

Investigating migrants and human trafficking

 Giving his insight about migrants and refugees, an investigative journalist with Mozambiquan Television, Francisco Junior, bemoaned human trafficking in Africa, which he said was perpetuated by poverty, war, disasters, and a lack of access to economic and natural resources. Junior recommended journeying with migrants and refugees and facilitating psychological and emotional support. He said the Church media is bestowed with a big role in monitoring, reporting, and offering support to those affected by trafficking.

Other topics to be covered at the workshop include the Mozambiquan Catholic Church’s experience of migrants and implications for Catholic journalists, the Communicative dimensions of the Church’s vision for migrants in the IMBISA Region, and Reporting on migrants and specialized reporting.

Participants at the SIGNIS Africa worskhop in Maputo