Silver Jubilee: Pauline Sisters in Angola Lauded for Evangelizing with “tools of our time”

The Pauline Sisters have embraced the media apostolate “in full, using the various tools of our time so that the Word of God, the Mystery of God, the Mystery of man can become present in every environment and in every space,” the Angola Catholic Archbishop emphasized.

He added that although the FSP members in Angola are not directly engaged in catechesis, in meeting with the youth, and could remain unknown to families and “to people of all religions, of all races, but they are through this (media apostolate) rich in principles, values and care for life.”

Credit: ACI Africa

Through the media apostolate, the Pauline Sisters in Angola “produce, transform and multiply in books, in other texts, in sounds through songs, through pronouncements, opinions, through digital networks, through the cinema, content that help spread the Word of God,” Archbishop Dias further said.

The presence and apostolate of FSP members in Angola has been instrumental to the country’s evangelization, the Archbishop of Luanda went on to say about the Sisters who arrived in the Southern African nation in January 1999, adding that before their arrival, Angola was “impoverished in terms of evangelization through the media.”

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“For us, your presence here in Angola is a novelty and at the same time a necessity,” he said, and continued, “We were impoverished, but we are still poor. We lived impoverished; we didn't have these instruments, ready, elaborated, shared in universality to support evangelization.”

The media apostolate of the FSP members has been instrumental “for the education of young people, for the cultural and spiritual education of any citizen as a support for the action of our various secretariats,” Archbishop Dias said. 

Credit: ACI Africa

The Catholic Church leader, who started his Episcopal Ministry in January 2004 as Auxiliary Bishop of Launda Archdiocese expressed his appreciation for FSP members’ Multimedia Centre for Evangelization and Culture in Angola, where he said Christians and non-Christians feel “welcome, to be able to find books, to be able to enrich themselves, to be able to perceive this universality of God.”

The presence and impact of FSP members in Angola have grown “little by little thanks to their determination, even in times of armed conflict,” he said during the January 7 event, adding that despite being located in Angola’s capital city, Luanda, the Sisters have been true to their identity as “Paulines, adventurers, walking according to the rhythm of the Spirit and the charm of the heart.”

Credit: FSP Angola

“Modern technologies offer us unprecedented possibilities for doing good, to spread the truth of our salvation in Jesus Christ and to promote harmony and reconciliation,” Archbishop Dias said, adding that “their misuse can cause enormous damage, causing misunderstanding, prejudice and even conflict.”

Credit: ACI Africa

The 65-year-old Archbishop emphasized the need “to cultivate constant vigilance so as not to lose sight of the truth and wisdom in the face of immediacy and the unbridled search for sensational and spectacular news.”

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João Vissesse is an Angolan Journalist with a passion and rich experience in Catholic Church Communication and Media Apostolate.