Nigeria Needs God’s Mercy – Bishop Godfrey Onah tells Catholic Communicators

The Episcopal chairman for social communications, Most Rev. Godfrey Onah asserted that “Nigeria is in need of God’s mercy”. The Bishop represented by Rev. Fr. Chris Anyanwu, director of Social Communications, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, made this assertion in his keynote address to a group of directors of social communications gathered in Ikot Ekpene for the plenary of the National Catholic Communications Director held in the Cardinal Ekandem Pastoral Center from the 12^th– 14^th of October 2015. The theme of the conference “Communicating God’s mercy in a multicultural society” is not only apt but also timely says the Bishop. This is because of the proclamation of the year 2016 as the extraordinary year of Mercy and the theme of the 2016 world communications as “communication and mercy: A fruitful encounter”. With this the church invites everyone especially those in the field of communications to a deeper reflection in the link between communication and mercy. Mercy, the Bishop says, invokes the power of words and gestures to overcome misunderstanding to heal memories and to build peace and harmony. He reminded everyone of the exhortation of Pope Francis, “good communication is never merely the product of the latest or most developed technology, but is realized within the context of a deep interpersonal relationship. The way the church communicates… her language and gestures must transmit mercy, so as to touch the hearts of all people and inspire them once more to find the road that leads to the Father.” (Misericordiea Vultus)

Furthermore, the bishop drew the link between God’s mercy and the social context of Nigeria. He urged the participants at the conference to ensure that their deliberations take the Nigerian situation into consideration. “Nigeria is in need of God’s mercy” says bishop Onah, for it will take the efforts of all but primarily the grace of God to overcome the Boko haram and the corruption crises that we face. He also highlighted the need for everyone to live in peace and unity. He concluded by calling everyone to imbibe the spirit of the Jubilee year of mercy especially in the work of communication, because it is only the merciful that will obtain mercy.