From Rwanda to Cameroon: Catholic Leaders Highlight Media’s Power to Fuel Conflict or Build Peace

He said that division “can take any form,” adding that “it can be religious; it can be regional; it can be farmers against cattle keepers; it can be fishermen against farmers.”

The Rwandan Catholic Church leader created first-ever Cardinal in Rwanda during the November 2020 Consistory said media that promote unity and reconciliation can help societies recover from deeply rooted divisions.

“From a very, very tragic division that went up to the genocide, now to rebuild the unity, to promote forgiveness and reconciliation, the media also is very efficient,” he said.

Antoine Cardinal Kambanda, Local Ordinary of Rwanda’s Kigali Catholic Archdiocese. Credit: ACI Africa

He said Catholic and state media in Rwanda have contributed to “building a reconciled community,” as well as promoting “harmony, resilience, and even the process of community healing.”

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Addressing countries experiencing war and internal conflict in Africa, Cardinal Kambanda called for communication that helps people overcome prejudice and fear.

“It’s a good use of the media promoting mutual understanding, helping people to overcome prejudices and the fear of others, and enabling them to understand that they are brothers and sisters,” he said.

Credit: ACI Africa

He added that peace cannot be pursued through the suffering of another person or community.

“If you agree on this principle of all of us seeking to live in peace, in harmony and happiness, then we shall live and not think that you can acquire peace and happiness at the expense of the suffering of the other,” the Local Ordinary of Kigali following his appointment in November 2018 said.

Reaching Communities Cut Off by Cameroon’s Prolonged Unrest

In the Central African nation of Cameroon, Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi of the Catholic Diocese of Buea said Catholic radio and television are being used to reach people affected by the unrest in the country’s English-speaking regions.

Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi of Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Buea. Credit: ACI Africa

“The whole of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda, I’m talking about the Dioceses of Kumbo, Bamenda, Mamfe, Kumba and Buea, we have been living in this situation of unrest for getting to 10 years now,” Bishop Bibi said.

The President of the Commission for Communications of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) said Church media have sought to bring hope to communities affected by the crisis.

“As far as social communication is concerned, I think that the media, what we have been doing, is to see how we can use the media in order to bring hope to the people,” he said.

Credit: ACI Africa

Bishop Bibi said reaching people unable to move freely because of the unrest was among the reasons he advanced when seeking to add television services to the Diocese’s radio apostolate.

“One of the reasons, actually, that I advanced when I was requesting for the television section of the radio (station) is to enable us to reach out to those areas where people cannot come out because of the unrest; those areas where people are blocked and they don’t have access to any information,” he said referring to his Diocese’s Divine Mercy Radio and Television.

Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi of Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Buea. Credit: ACI Africa

“With the television, I’ll be able to reach out to them. They’ll be able to listen to the Good News, and at the same time, we’ll help them so that they may be able to have talks and a presence that will be able to give peace,” the Cameroonian Catholic Bishop said.

He said Divine Mercy Radio and Television has complemented pastoral visits and other Diocesan initiatives aimed at promoting justice and reconciliation.

Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi of Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Buea. Credit: ACI Africa

“When I go out for pastoral visits, especially in the most challenging and difficult areas of the Diocese, it’s an opportunity that we continue again to also talk to the people about justice, about peace, about reconciliation, about living together,” Bishop Bibi said.

He added, “With the presence of the radio and television, it helps the people to get the formation talks that we give, the seminars that we carry out on peace and justice, and it brings the knowledge closer to the people.”

Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi of Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Buea. Credit: ACI Africa

Truth and the Common Good as the Measure of Catholic Communication

Bishop Bibi also called on Catholic journalists to distinguish themselves through truthfulness, verification and fidelity to the values of the Gospel.

“When we communicate, we should be able to verify the facts; we should be able to speak the truth, and we should also make sure that in our communication we make the person of Christ the centre,” he said.

He described communication as an apostolate and warned against using media platforms to damage reputations, pursue personal conflicts or mislead audiences.

Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi of Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Buea. Credit: ACI Africa

“Some journalists decide to use the media in order to deform the characters of people, in order to settle scores,” Bishop Bibi, who has personally endured online attacks, said. He added, “They give a lot of misinformation about situations, lots of lies, and of course it can mislead the Christian faithful.”

For him, “Catholic communicators should be able to be different and make sure that they stand for the truth of the Gospel message.”

Credit: ACI Africa

In a separate interview with ACI Africa during the SIGNIS World Congress, Fr. Walter Chikwendu Ihejirika said communication affects the life and progress of every society.

“No community can survive without good communication,” the newly elected President of the World Catholic Association for Communication (SIGNIS) said during the August 6 interview, and described communication as “the wheel that makes society move around.”

Fr. Walter Chikwendu Ihejirika. Credit: ACI Africa

Fr. Walter explained, “When we have good communication, it will be like the oil that makes the wheel of progress move well. But when we have bad communication, the reverse will be the case.”

The Nigerian Catholic Priest and Professor of Communication and Media Studies said communicators have a responsibility to direct their professional knowledge and abilities toward the common good.

Fr. Walter Chikwendu Ihejirika. Credit: ACI Africa

“We have the obligation to use our knowledge and our talents to promote harmony, to promote communion, to promote people knowing themselves, promote truth, and most importantly, help people to understand the importance of protecting the environment,” Fr. Walter, who is the immediate former President of SIGNIS Africa said, alluding to the theme of the 2026 SIGNIS World Congress, “Digital Communication for Cultural Harmony and Environmental Well-Being.”

Telling Stories that Restore Dignity and Sustain Hope

In another interview, Sr. Jane Wakahiu called for greater attention to stories that sustain hope, especially those emerging from communities experiencing hardship.

“Sometimes in the mainstream media or in the public square, the stories that are told are stories that are disheartening, killing hope in people,” the Associate Vice President for Program Operations and Head of Catholic Sisters Initiative (CSI) at Conrad N. Hilton Foundation said during the August 6 interview.

Sr. Jane Wakahiu, Associate Vice President for Program Operations and Head of Catholic Sisters Initiative (CSI) at Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Credit: ACI Africa

She said Catholic Sisters working in remote and hard-to-reach areas are being helped to communicate stories that acknowledge difficulties while making visible the resilience of the people they accompany.

“We want them to tell the stories that even when there are challenges, there is hope,” the Kenyan-born member of the Little Sisters of St. Francis (LSOSF) said.

She added that such communication should include “stories about the mission, stories that give life, stories that restore dignity, stories that encourage, and stories that give agency.”

Credit: ACI Africa

Dialogue and Compassion as Pathways to Reconciliation

Meanwhile, in his message to Catholic communicators during the August 5 interview, Cardinal Kambanda called for communication grounded in peace, fraternity, attentive listening and compassion.

“We would like Catholic communicators that build peace, that promote peace, brotherhood, fraternity and dialogue,” he said.

The Rwandan Cardinal described dialogue as an encounter that “opens mutual understanding, mutual appreciation, listening to the other, and then compassion.”

Antoine Cardinal Kambanda, Local Ordinary of Rwanda’s Kigali Catholic Archdiocese. Credit: ACI Africa

Reflecting on the relationship between compassion and forgiveness in Kinyarwanda, he said forgiveness requires entering into the experience of the person who is suffering.

“I put myself in your place and try to understand your suffering. When I understand your suffering, it makes me suffer. Then I can understand you,” Cardinal Kambanda said.

Credit: ACI Africa

For him, such a disposition “opens the way for reconciliation, mutual understanding, dialogue, and this is what Catholic communication could help our society promote and build.”