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Catholic Archbishop in Angola Concerned About High Rate of Theft, Urges Respect for Eighth Commandment

Archbishop Luzizila Kiala of the Catholic Archdiocese of Malanje in Angola. Credit: Radio Ecclesia

By João Vissesse

Malanje, 12 June, 2024 / 8:01 pm (ACI Africa).

Archbishop Luzizila Kiala of the Catholic Archdiocese of Malanje in Angola has expressed concern about the high rate of theft in his Episcopal See, calling on the people of God to respect the eighth Commandment “Thou shalt not steal.”

In his homily during the launch of activities marking the 60th anniversary of the Sacred Heart Parish of Malanje Archdiocese, Archbishop Kiala also faulted Christians who visit  soothsayers, saying, “It is the source of theft.”

“We see that there is a lot of theft in our land, in our neighborhoods, in this city,”  the Angolan Catholic Archbishop said Monday, June 10.

He added, “Stealing is the work of Satan. I remind you of the eighth commandment which says:   Thou shalt not steal.”

“The eighth commandment forbids theft or robbery, or the taking of another's property against the will of the owner,” Archbishop Kiala emphasized.

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The Catholic Church leader, who started his Episcopal Ministry in August 2013 as Bishop of Angola’s Sumbe Diocese said, “Greed and envy are works of Satan and lead the Christian farther away from God. They are the root causes of a person taking possession of someone else's things.”

He called on those who engage in stealing to follow the example of Zacchaeus who met Jesus and expressed his commitment to mend his ways.

“If I cause any harm to anyone, I will pay back four times as much, and so must all thieves. Whoever steals must return the stolen thing to the owner,” Archbishop Kiala said.

He explained, “The Tenth Commandment says: You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor, his house, his field, his ox or his goat, anything that is his, you shall not covet. The Tenth Commandment forbids coveting because it is the root cause of theft, robbery, rapine, and fraud, and it condemns these practices.”

The Local Ordinary of Malanje further decried rampant sorcery, and false accusations related to witchcraft in the Episcopal See.

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“Many people go to see a sorcerer to find out who is causing a certain evil and they end up accusing a child or the oldest person in the house,” the Archbishop said, and added, “Many of you have done this by going to fortune-tellers and these practices are an inexhaustible source of crimes of various kinds.”

“Those who go to fortune-tellers end up divinizing a creature by attributing to them power that they do not possess,” Archbishop Kiala said.

João Vissesse

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

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