Vastness, Sects, Multiple Languages among Challenges of Angola’s Sumbe Catholic Diocese

Bishop Firmino emphasized the place of Priestly studies and formation in Episcopal Ministry, saying having candidates for a lifelong commitment to evangelization ensures “the continuity of a good wealth for our four Seminaries.”

On the challenge of Christian sects in his Episcopal See, the 61-year-old Angolan Catholic Bishop, who started his Episcopal Ministry on 23 July 2023 following his appointment on 4 May 2023 said the Catholic Church is “very much under siege”.

Those at the helm of these sects see the Catholic Church as a “rival”, he observed, and added, “These sects try to feed more on the side of prosperity preaching to attract those who are not yet committedly part of the churches or communities and unfortunately, because of (spiritual) poverty, many go running to these sects.”

As a way forward, Bishop Firmino said that the formation of Catechists has been prioritized. 

“There have been some formation meetings for Catechists so that they too can be refreshed, so that they can master certain themes and so that they can also easily defend the Church,” he said. 

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The Catholic Church leader went on to share about the limited number of Priests in his Diocese as a challenge to the evangelization ministry, with the administering of Sacraments negatively affected. 

“I have five Vicariates in the Diocese of Sumbe,” he said, and listed the Northern Vicariate, the Central Vicariate, the Southern Vicariate, the Coastal Vicariate and one more as the subdivisions of the pastoral units of his Diocese, handled by seven Vicars, two of whom oversee the Pastoral Vicariate and the Vicariate of Liturgy. 

The Angolan Catholic Diocese is served by 61 Priests and six Deacons who, the Local Ordinary said, “assist in the pastoral care of the Diocese in 25 parishes and other mission stations.”

To meet this challenge of few pastoral agents, Bishop Firmino told ACI Africa that he has scheduled two sessions for their training, in view of making the local church grow quantitatively and qualitatively.

“One is the formation of Priests and Seminarians, and the other is the formation of staff, especially Catechists, who are the pillars of the Church,” he said, and added, “The other formation is for the Laity because they are the whole Church and who thus take the lead in proclaiming the Gospel to all the communities.”

The training of pastoral agents will provide personnel for the planned initiative of opening new mission centers, bringing “pastoral services closer to the communities, so that we can easily get to know the problems that are being experienced, because it's one thing to go to a place once in a while and another thing to be in permanent contact with the communities,” he said.

Regarding the challenge of multiple languages in his Episcopal See, Bishop Firmino described Sumbe Diocese as “very complex” because of the reality of “many ethnic groups, each with its own language, its own dialect.”

“Sometimes this also affects communication,” he said, adding that pastoral agents are urged to learn local languages to help them serve the people of God under their pastoral care.

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