Catholic bishops decry negative use of social media

The Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria has decried the negative use of the social media especially among youths in the country.

The bishops made their observation in a communique issued at the end of their one week second plenary session at the Charles Borromeo Pastoral Centre, Jalingo.
According to them, rather than tap the great potential of the social media in expanding knowledge, many youths have been using it to spread falsehood, disseminate hate speeches and engage in slander.
They stated: “In these difficult times, we appeal to Nigerians to be circumspect and positive in the use of information obtained from and disseminated through the modern media.
“As a Church, we reaffirm our commitment to peace, unity and progress in Nigeria and the integral development of its citizens.”
The bishops called urged all state governments to return to the old tradition of collaborating with the Church in the provision of high quality education for all citizens.
They appealed to the Federal government to honour all legal agreements with striking unions to limit the grave damage that was already being done to the society.
It urged all Nigerians to pray and act correctly, so as to attract God’s blessings for a better nation.
The communique quoted the bishops as saying: “we shall reconsecrate Nigeria to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and entrust Nigeria to the Blessed Virgin Mary”.
It added: “We intend to do this during our celebration of the National Mariam year scheduled to take place in Benin City by October.
“We will ask our blessed Mother to intercede on our behalf to stabilise the Nigerian ship of state.”