Reconciliation, Consecrated Life Focus of Upcoming Plenary of Catholic Bishops in Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe

Luanda, 16 September, 2025 / 9:57 PM

Members of the Bishops' Conference of Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe (CEAST) are set to gather from Wednesday, September 17, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Muxima in Angola’s Catholic Diocese of Viana for their Ordinary Annual Plenary Assembly. 

Announcing the event during a Monday, September 15 press conference, CEAST spokesperson said the September 17-22 gathering is to focus on “reconciliation, Consecrated Life, and other key issues for the Church and society.”

Bishop Belmiro Cuica Chissengueti of the Catholic Diocese of Cabinda said the opening session on September 17 is to feature an address by CEAST President, Archbishop José Manuel Imbamba, providing an overview of the state of the Church and society since their last Plenary Assembly.

Another highlight of the Assembly, Bishop Chissengueti said, will be the Solemn Mass on Sunday, September 21, marking the official launch of the National Congress of Reconciliation that has been scheduled to take place in October.

“This celebration officially marks the opening of the Congress, planned for the end of October, and is part of the Jubilee celebrations of Angola’s 50 years of Independence, as well as within the context of the Jubilee Year of Hope proclaimed by CEAST,” the Angolan member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (CSSp./Holy Ghost Fathers/Spiritans) said.

The Plenary Assembly is to include the presentation of CEAST’s pastoral message for the second year of its 2024–2027 Pastoral Triennium, dedicated to Consecrated Life and ordained ministers.

According to Bishop Chissengueti, the aim is to “strengthen the identity, spirituality, and missionary commitment” of those called to this vocation.

Another major highlight is the evaluation of the creation of new Dioceses. According to the CEAST spokesperson, this initiative is motivated “by the new administrative division of the country, but also by current pastoral needs, which require shepherding that is closer, more attentive, and more contextualized to local realities.”

In addition to these priorities, he said CEAST members are to “address a wide range of other matters concerning the Church’s mission in Angola and São Tomé.”

Bishop Chissengueti described the program of the Plenary Assembly as characterized with “a broad and demanding agenda.”

Daily press briefings will be held at 6:00 p.m. throughout the Plenary Assembly, with a final press conference scheduled for Monday, September 22, at CEAST headquarters in Luanda.

“We count on you, on your prayers, hoping that this Assembly will help us to guide well the Church entrusted to us,” Bishop Chissengueti said on September 15, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.