SIGNIS World Congress begins in Rwanda with focus on digital communication

by Catholic Trends

August 4, 2026

in Africa, News

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The first-ever SIGNIS World Congress to be held on African soil officially opened on Tuesday, August 4, in Rwanda’s Catholic Archdiocese of Kigali, bringing together Catholic communicators from more than 40 countries across five continents.

The six-day Congress is being held under the theme, “Digital Communication for Cultural Harmony and Environmental Well-Being,” and is expected to host more than 300 participants from around the world.

Ahead of the opening ceremony, the Congress Secretariat announced that 104 delegates had already completed accreditation.

“We are pleased to inform you that 104 participants have already received their badges,” the Secretariat said in a statement issued on Monday, August 3.

The opening session featured welcome addresses from the Archbishop of Kigali and President of the Episcopal Conference of Rwanda (CEPR), Antoine Cardinal Kambanda, SIGNIS World President Helen Osman, and SIGNIS Africa President Fr. Prof. Walter Chekwendu Ihejirika.

The Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, Dr. Paolo Ruffini, was scheduled to deliver a goodwill message virtually. Other speakers included the Apostolic Nuncio to Rwanda, Archbishop Arnaldo Sánchez Catalán, as well as representatives of partner organisations.

Following the opening ceremony, delegates were expected to begin the first plenary session centred on the Congress theme. The session features presentations by the Secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization, Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, and the Theological-Pastoral Director at the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, Dr. Nataša Govekar.

Running from August 3 to 8, the Congress will examine key issues shaping the future of Catholic communication, including digital communication for communion, religious and cultural engagement in the digital age, artificial intelligence in media, media literacy, youth participation, environmental communication, and the role of Catholic communicators in fostering reconciliation and cultural harmony.

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Daily Reading

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Book of Exodus 22,20-26.

Thus says the LORD: "You shall not molest... or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.
You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.
If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry.
My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.
If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him.
If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset;
for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."

Psalms 18(17),2-3a.3bc-4.47.51a-51b.

I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my... rock, my fortress, my deliverer.

My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.

The LORD lives! And blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed;

to David and his posterity forever

First Letter to the Thessalonians 1,5c-10.

For our gospel did not come to you in word... alone, but also in power and in the holy Spirit and with much conviction. You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the holy Spirit,
so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and (in) Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.
For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from (the) dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 22,34-40.

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced... the Sadducees, they gathered together,
and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

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SIGNIS World Congress begins in Rwanda with focus on digital communication

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