By ALICE NACHILEMBE
The Catholic Media Services through Loyola Television and Lumen Television have signed a partnership agreement with Zamtel in a bid to drive the digital solution agenda amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
Loyola Television Executive Director Patrick Mulemi said the common principle of the church is to communicate and thus television plays a critical role amidst the pandemic.
Fr Mulemi said the digital era presents an opportunity for the church to reach out to the masses without any physical contact.
He said the church needs to get involved and descend in the media industry in order to preach the good news and spread the message of hope.
Fr Mulemi also says the partnership will create over 1,000 jobs for the young people countrywide.
He spoke at the signing ceremony at Loyola Television Studios in Lusaka.
And Zamtel Chief Executive Officer Sydney Mupeta said the advent of the COVID -19 calls for the embracing of digitization.
Mr Mupeta said the step taken by the Catholic church in Zambia to embrace digital solution is a huge milestone because it sets the tone for a steady introduction of digital activities such as electronic contribution of offertory and other financial pledges.
“I am indeed elated that the Catholic Church has chosen to take a front-foot forward and champion the Digital agenda through this partnership. We are confident that as we embark on this journey, we shall continue to explore other digital solutions which will benefit both the church and its members,” he said.
Mr Mupeta is confident that under this partnership, the Church parishioners in the remotest parts of Zambia will find the use of Zamtel Mobile Money a very convenient avenue for their monetary contributions to the Church.
The partnership is part of the Loyola and Lumen Vision 2021 to connect and reach out to over six million Catholic parishioners and the general public through television.
The partnership will involve the facilitation of payments such as Sunday offering, tithe and other church contributions by the parishioners through Zamtel Mobile Money platform.
Zamtel will under the partnership provide its products to parishioners at various catholic premises across the Country and will also connect with the church membership through the various Catholic run media platforms such as Loyola TV, Lumen TV, Loyola and several radio stations.
