Catholic Missionaries in Angola Support Hunger-Stricken Communities in Remote Areas

Luanda, 31 July, 2025 / 12:28 AM

The Missionaries of the Congregation of the Divine Word from the Catholic Diocese of Leiria-Fátima in Angola have provided care and hope to impoverished communities located in the Gungo mountain range, approximately 400 kilometers south of the country’s capital, Luanda.

The head of the Missionary Animation Service of the Diocese of Leiria-Fátima, Fr. Joaquim Domingos Luís told the Catholic Charity Foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International that since his relocation to Angola in 2018 for mission work, the Catholic Missionaries have been working to ensure the welfare the “forgotten” people of God in Angola who are experiencing challenges such as poverty, hunger and even hopelessness.

“We work mainly in the Gungo mountains; the people live off agriculture and small businesses,” Fr.Domingos said in a Wednesday, July 30 ACN report.

“Food security doesn't exist, because all it takes is more rain or a lack of rain for harvests to decline, food stocks to dwindle, and prices to skyrocket. Since 2018, the prices of essential goods have tripled, such as corn, rice, cassava, and peanuts,” he added.

Fr. Domingos said that Portuguese missionaries from the Diocese of Leiria-Fátima, who signed a twinning agreement with the Catholic Diocese of Sumbe since 2006 to support the impoverished population, are experiencing the challenge of accessing the mountainous area of Gungo because of “trails, as we call them, and during the rainy season it is truly an adventure to reach the mission in Donga, in the mountains."

According to the ACN report, Missionaries from the Catholic Diocese of Leiria-Fátima are working hard to create awareness of the problems, concerns, and hardships of the people living in the mountainous area of Gungo, in the province of Cuanza Sul.

They're there to help, to be a sign of hope, but also to tell the world that in that region of Angola—as unfortunately in many other areas of the country—people live in extreme hardship, and this shouldn't be ignored.

Fr. Domingos, who has been responsible for monitoring what is happening at this mission in the mountainous area of Gungo, in the province of Cuanza Sul , since a twinning protocol was signed with the Angolan Diocese of Sumbe, said, “for ordinary people, who have no income and live off subsistence farming, it is truly very difficult” to survive day-to-day .

The Catholic Priest said that the Catholic Church has sought to help, notably through a canteen, which has since been established so that peasants can sell their produce without being exploited, noting that women are the ones who work the hardest and make the most sacrifices.

“Usually, women work in the fields. Men do little to help, and they are always the ones who suffer the most. The mission seeks to help as much as possible, especially in transporting produce to be sold at a better price in the city, as traders come to the villages and exploit the peasants, buying their produce at low prices because they lack transportation to the city. At the same time, the mission has a canteen that sells basic necessities at affordable prices to help the peasants avoid being exploited by unscrupulous traders,” the Portuguese Missionary explained.

In the July 30 report, Fr. Domingos described the mountainous area of Gungo as a home to a forgotten people. It is a locality he said politicians only visit during election season.

 “Because these are remote areas, politicians only go there during elections, and sometimes not even then. They are a forgotten people who live with many difficulties,” he said.  

“In terms of food security, Angola could produce enough to feed its population and sell to other countries,” the Missionary said, and continued, “Organizing small cooperatives, supporting women in agriculture and trade, and providing agricultural training could help avoid food shortages and price speculation. The problem is that those in power are far away, in the city, and ignore the suffering of those who live isolated.”

From Portugal, Fr. Domingos remains in contact with the teams in Angola and, as a man of faith, he always hopes that things will improve and that what he calls the “famine scandal” will be overcome, in the country he says is rich in natural resources.

Commenting on the impoverishment of the African country, Fr. Domingos says, “Let us hope that the situation improves quickly so that this famine scandal, in a country as rich as Angola, ends as quickly as possible with the help of policies to support farmers and small traders.”