Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
“We citizens of Kenya and Catholic Christians, seek that the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) compels the Daily Nation and Standard Newspaper to formally apologize to the Catholic Church and the people of Kenya following their misleading coverage on Monday 23rd March 2020, with the headlines ‘Church, the weak link’ and ‘Agents of death’ respectively in their reporting of Coronavirus epidemic,” a statement signed by the Lay Apostolate Coordinator of Kenya’s Nakuru diocese Mr. Ronald Sunros Sunguti underscored.
The collective message from The Kenya Catholic Men Association (CMAK), The Kenya Catholic Women Association (CWA), The Kenya Catholic Young Adults Association (CYA), The Kenya Catholic Youth Association and the entire Kenya Catholic Lay Faithful reminded the media of the role Catholic Church has played in the past and in the current pandemic affecting the entire world.
“Contrary to the media coverage, the Catholic Church has been a strong link, an agent of life and a partner in the face of this epidemic and other major catastrophes in the nation and in the world,” the statement addressed to the MCK and copied to all media houses in Kenya and the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) stated.
“The Catholic Church has been at the forefront of promoting a culture of life from conception to natural death. Many Christians including priests, Religious Men and Women and the Laity have in the face of this and other calamities put their lives on the line to save lives,” the statement clarified, arguing further against branding the Church as ‘agent of death’.
Identifying some key persons in the Church whose examples have been vital in matters related to health, the representatives of lay movements recounted, “for instance, Blessed Sr. Irene Stephanie Nyaatha, Fr. John Anthony Kaiser, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. Maximilian Kolbe and more recently, Fr. Giuseppe Berardelli the 72 year old Italian priest from Bergamo who gave up his respirator which was purchased for him by his own parishioners to a younger patient suffering from the same Coronavirus and paid the ultimate price.”
“In fact, in matters (of) health, the Catholic Church is a major stakeholder, in terms of its massive infrastructure of hospitals, health centres, dispensaries and human resource,” they added.
In their collective statement, the lay representatives termed the reporting to be “contra media ethics” and “unethical” saying, “Therefore, misleading reporting by such mainstream media is in no way helpful to the current predicament. To the contrary, they are unethical, insensitive and creating unnecessary tension. This is contra to media ethics.”
They also blamed the media for exposing some people who were confirmed positive of COVID-19 and identifying them by name.
“It is unfortunate for the media to mention by name those who have tested positive to the virus. We wonder why of the sixteen (16) cases in Kenya, they found it opportune to pick and expose only the Catholic Priest and the Kilifi Deputy Governor,” the Catholic lay representatives decried adding that, “this causes unnecessary fear, panic, animosity, and a distraction from the consolidated efforts of different persons and groups to fighting and / or preventing the virus breakout in Kenya. Everyone, irrespective of status or creed, has a right to a good name, reputation and human dignity.”
“Media ought to be both professional and ethical, but not sensational. We therefore demand that the concerned media houses apologise to the Catholic Church and the general public and withdraw the sentiments,” reads an excerpt from the statement dated Tuesday, March 24.