Founded in 1987 the Academy recognizes and honours women and men in India and outside the country. They are people who have made significant contributions to affirming the values of church and to promoting the welfare of society in fields such as: academics, economic justice, ecumenism, theological education, church administration, communication, ecological and gender justice, and liberation of oppressed people with special emphasis on Dalits and Adivasis.

The honorary degrees were conferred by Dr. K. M. Shyamprasad, Chancellor of the Syndicate of the Academy. WACC-Asia President, Dr. Samuel W. Meshack, is a member of the academy. He is also the new Secretary of the WACC Global Board.

WACC General Secretary being conferred Doctor of Divinity honoris causa

At the ceremony, Dr. Achtelstetter delivered the Convocation address titled “Communication Challenges in the Global Village”, in which she explored global communication challenges, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as communication rights.

In her speech, she paid tribute to the late Robert Geisendörfer, citing his reflection on communication and participation titled “Communication in the sense of participation and inclusion is a part of life”. Geisendörfer, born in Bavaria, Germany in 1910, is renowned for his work in founding Protestant media in Germany. He was appointed Director of the Bavarian Protestant Press Association in 1947. His task was to rebuild church media work after the Nazi dictatorship and the Second World War. Geisendörfer was also WACC’s Treasurer and founder of WACC Europe and the Christian Television Festival.

Achtelstetter, an ordained pastor also from Bavaria, emphasized Geisendörfer’s insight that “Communication in the sense of participation and inclusion is a part of life ... If you cannot communicate, you are disenfranchised, manipulated by the other, you are turned into an instrument instead of a created being.” WACC’s General Secretary observed that Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) fall short of communication objectives “even though the information and media industries worldwide are among the largest and most dynamic industrial sectors”.

However, she said, some elements of communication in development programs are evident. “Media and information campaigns are launched, for example, to promote childhood vaccinations, or to get tested for HIV; and yet many of these campaigns fail. The reason, I would argue, is reductionist understandings of communication,” she said.

Citing Silvio Waisbord, a development communication expert, Achtelstetter said that some development campaigns fail because of limited understanding of communication. “When communication is reduced to information, production or reception of information or of information technology, the transformative potential of communication through the exchange of ideas, negotiation and inclusion in public life is lost”, she said.

On the right to communicate she pointed out that, “it goes far beyond the understanding of freedom of expression as formulated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” It is about giving “human beings the right to communicate according to the media and technical possibilities of the situation they are in.”

And on new developments in information and communication technology, she emphasized the importance of creating direct access to the exchange of communication, information and knowledge.

Achtelstetter further emphasized the need to create international, ecumenical and inter-religious alliances to enhance an understanding of communication that recognizes communications rights as a universal human right.

She thanked the Academy for honouring her saying that it was a “memorable and outstanding event.”

In August 2010, the Academy conferred Doctorate of Divinity on WACC President, Dennis Smith and former WACC General Secretary, Rev. Randy Naylor. (See details here... )

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