Nigerian priest elected to lead global Catholic media body
Imo-born Catholic priest Rev. Fr. Walter Ihejirika has been elected President of SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication, at the congress in Kigali, Rwanda.
Imo-born Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Walter Ihejirika, has been elected as the new President of SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication. SIGNIS is a global non-profit network for Catholic media professionals working in press, radio, television, cinema, internet and new technology.
Ihejirika, a Professor of Development Communication and Media Studies at the University of Port Harcourt, was elected at the ongoing SIGNIS World Congress held in Kigali, Rwanda, on August 7. Until his elevation, the Communication Scholar was the President of SIGNIS Africa, where he provided dynamic leadership in promoting Catholic communication, strengthening the media apostolate, and encouraging communication professionals across Africa.
He also holds a Doctorate (PhD) in Social Communication from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. Ihejirika was ordained a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara, Imo State, and had distinguished himself as a priest, scholar, researcher and communication expert. His academic research focuses on the intersection of media, religion, culture, development communication, digital technology and social transformation.
He was the Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Port Harcourt and an Associate Fellow of the Centre for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University, Chicago, USA.
Other elected SIGNIS World Board of Directors members were Pamela Aleman (SIGNIS USA–Canada) and Magimai Pragasam (India) as Vice Presidents, while Adriana Racasan (SIGNIS Europe) was elected Treasurer. The new leadership team is expected to advance SIGNIS’s global mission of empowering Catholic communicators to become witnesses of truth, hope and love in an increasingly digital world.
For a priest from a relatively small diocese in Imo State to ascend to the presidency of a global Catholic media network spanning 120 countries is no small feat. Ihejirika’s journey from Ahiara to Rome to Port Harcourt, and now to the global stage, is a reminder that the Church’s media mission is increasingly being shaped by voices from the Global South.
This echoes the 2021 election of a Nigerian to lead a global Catholic body, when Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu was appointed to a senior Vatican diplomatic role. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: Nigerian clergy being recognised for their leadership and expertise on the world stage.
The winners: Rev. Fr. Walter Ihejirika, who has achieved a significant milestone; the Nigerian Catholic Church, which gains global recognition; and Catholic communicators across Africa, who now have one of their own at the helm of the global body. The losers: the other candidates who contested the election; and those who underestimate the influence of African voices in global Catholic media.
Bottom Line: A Nigerian priest now leads the world’s Catholic communicators. The question is whether his global platform will amplify African voices in the Church’s media mission.