Catholic Bishop in Angola Cautions against Selfishness and Greed, Calls for Stewardship

The Angolan member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit under the protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CSSp.), also known as the Spiritans or Holy Ghost Fathers, went on to reflect on the Readings of the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, calling for stewardship.

“Let's not forget that we are God's vineyard. And He has placed in our land everything we need to be happy, so that we don't die of hunger, so that we can even help other people,” he said.

Bishop Camuto criticized the lack of integrity among Christian civil servants in Angola, saying, “We continue to see in the various Ministries of the government, and we even know that many Ministries are run by Christians, but we continue to see acts, deeds and works of the evil one: corruption, theft, lies and deceit.”

He queried, “Are we only Christians in church? Or Sunday Christians? What do we do in our places of service? What witness do we give in our places of service?”

The Local Ordinary of Caxito, who has been at the helm of the Angolan Catholic Diocese since his Episcopal Consecration in August 2020 challenged followers of Christ “to bear witness to the Word of God wherever they are, especially in places of service, in families and in society.”

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“The Lord has entrusted us with his gifts; He has entrusted us with life; He has entrusted us with rich land; He has entrusted us with health; He has entrusted us with personal talents, faith and spiritual graces,” he said during the October 8 Eucharistic celebration at St. Anna Cathedral of Caxito Diocese.

Bishop Camuto added, “The Lord has entrusted us with many things and all of this, to be managed wisely and to be put at the service of all; but the temptation is always great to take possession of the vineyard, that is, of what God has entrusted to our care and to use it for our own pleasure and benefit.”

“Unfortunately, driven by our greed and covetousness, we even do this with what belongs to everyone … we do this, with public money, and we deprive citizens of proper health care, of medicines and also of proper education; we deprive them because of our greed and covetousness,” he lamented. 

The 59-year-old Angolan Catholic Bishop further lamented, “The goods that should serve the majority are only serving a few.”

“Our greed leads us to accumulate goods and ignore the needs of others. Our greed also leads us to ignore the just demands of those who feel their rights have been violated, to trample on the poor and even to kill,” he explained.