Benguela, 15 January, 2024 / 3:56 pm (ACI Africa).
The Auxiliary Bishop of Angola’s Benguela Diocese has cautioned parents against child labor in the Southern African nation.
In his homily during Holy Mass at the Our Lady of Fatima Cathedral of Benguela Diocese, Bishop Estêvão Binga advocated for the practice of the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love.
Children are a gift from God and should be well looked after, “not just for their own sake, nor just for the sake of their parents, but for the sake of the Church and society,” Bishop Binga said during the January 14 Eucharistic celebration.
He lamented that “some parents have children as instruments of labour, like animals, standing still, in order to survive.”
The Angolan Catholic Bishop faulted the tendency to think of children as a source of workforce in family units, saying, “Poor people in particular often like to have many children, saying that at least some will help us; some go to work in the fields, others in the pastures.”