SIGNIS India National Assembly elects new office bearers

The national convention and Annual General Body meeting of Catholic Communicators forum, SIGNIS India, was held at Gyana Deep Bhavan, diocesan Pastoral Centre, Jaipur from 23- 24 November 2022.

Coming together as General body for the first-time post lockdowns, due to pandemic, 84 members participated in the event from different regions.

Keeping in line with the message of Pope Francis on world communication day, the theme of the convention "peace in the digital world " reemphasized on the need to use the media responsibly and sensibly.

The first day began with the inaugural mass by Bishop Oswald Lewis of Jaipur. There were eminent speakers and panelists, who highlighted the high significance of the theme amidst the growing concerns in the digital world.

The second day consisted of the annual general body meeting, and the election of the new national office bearers for the tenure of 2023- 2027.

During the annual general body meeting, the president, Fr. Stanly Kozhichira, in his address to the gathering, expressed his joy of being part of SIGNIS fraternity, as it provides a platform to for the likeminded people to learn and grow by drawing inspiration from each other. He also mentioned about occasions of missing out to listen to the voice of Holy Spirit, which appeals every communicator to listen with the ear of heart.

He called upon the SIGNIS members to walk beyond the barriers that prevent growth and expansion in mission. He also reminded that election should not be based on concerns and consensuses rather, aiming at the future of the organization.

The election process followed on the second half of the day. Fr. Stanly kozhichira, who had relinquished his post on being elected as the President of SIGNIS ASIA, presided over the election process. There were two more members to help him out at the desk as tellers.

The following members were elected as the new office bearers through secret ballot from the names proposed.

President :        Fr Victor Vijay Lobo
Vice President: Mr Sumit Dhanraj
Secretary:         Fr David Arokiam
Treasurer:         Fr Milton Sebastian
National Screening Committee member 1:   Fr C R Justy
National Screening Committee member 1 :   Sr. Tessy Jacob SSpS

The team will assume their office in February 2023.

Until 2019, the Secretary served also as the Treasurer. SIGNIS India National Assembly 2019 amended the constitution to bifurcate the post Secretary Treasurer as two entities, bringing in a new post as Treasurer.

That makes the number of executive body members four and two elected members as Screening committee members.

Speaking on behalf of the new team, the newly elected president, who is also a veteran in SIGNIS India executive body as Secretary Treasurer, expressed his desire to work as a team for keeping high the integrity, growth, and activities of SIGNIS India. As it stands now, SIGNIS needs to find newer realms to reach itself to the wider masses. Innovative methods will be applied over the years to achieve this goal. He is hopeful about it, with the support of his new team, which consists of members of various capacities, which is also a mixture of veterans and freshers.

The Annual Governing Body Meeting ended with honoring the outgoing members and thanking their untiring effort to revitalize the organization.

SIGNIS WORLD was created in November 2001 in Rome for the merger of two International Catholic Organizations. They are Unda, meaning ‘wave’ in Latin, for Radio and Television, and OCIC, an acronym for ‘Organization Catholique International du Cinema et de l’ Audiovisual, meaning International Catholic Organization for Cinema and Audiovisual’.

Both these Organizations were created in 1928 in Cologne, Germany and at The Hague, Netherlands respectively. The word ‘SIGNIS’ is derived from two Latin words, ‘Signum’ (meaning Sign) and ‘Ignis’ (meaning Fire)

SIGNIS INDIA is the Indian Chapter of SIGNIS WORLD. It is recognized by the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India (CBCI). It has twelve Regions, as delineated by the CBCI, with about 350 Active Members. Each Regional SIGNIS Unit has its own administrative structure.