Rome - 2001
The World Congress organised by OCIC and Unda, in Rome, in November 2001, was a historical meeting. All those who participated were part of an important page in the history of media, and the presence of the Church in the field of communication.
Created in 1928, the two organisations covered an extensive journey that little by little led to their merge. As early as 1982, the two Boards of Management met for the first time in Washington, in view of studying the relations between the two organisations. Three options were considered: a status quo, maintaining the two separate organisations; the creation of a federation, that would manage common activities, while maintaining OCIC and Unda; or merge leading to the creation of one single organisation.
This last proposition had already been submitted to the vote of the two assemblies meeting in Quito, in 1987. It was at the time rejected.
But the idea made its way into people’s minds. The convergence of the media made the merge a necessity.
The principle of merger was voted nearly unanimously during a Congress in Montreal, in 1998.
The undertaking of the merge took three years of intensive work which resulted in the November 2001 Congress in Rome, where the final decision of the creation of SIGNIS was finally taken.