“A historic milestone”: Catholic Bishop in Angola Lauds Pope Francis’ Decision to Erect Ganda Diocese

“We are very happy to welcome the new Bishop of the Diocese of Ganda,” Bishop Jaca said, adding that he would “accompany the new bishop in all the preparatory stages until his installation.”

When installed, Bishop Binga “must build the new Diocese and we already have the necessary conditions for his Episcopal mission to begin,” the Local Ordinary of Benguela Diocese, from which the newly erected Diocese of Ganda was carved out, said.

Born in Angola’s Catholic Archdiocese of Lubango in September 1966, Bishop Binga was ordained a Priest for the Diocese of Benguela in April 1996 after completing his Priestly studies and formation program at Bom Pastor (Good Shepherd) Seminary and the Cristo Rei Seminary in Huambo Diocese.

He holds a bachelors, licentiate and doctorate degrees in Dogmatic Theology from the Faculty of Theology of Northern Spain.

As a Priest, he served in various capacities including Prefect of discipline in the Preparatory Seminary in Benguela Diocese, collaborator in the Parish of Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes and President of the Diocesan Commission for Study and Refresher Courses and lecturer in various institutions of higher learning. 

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The Angolan Catholic Church leader was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Benguela Diocese in November 2021 and assigned the Titular See of Nasbinca.

Also speaking during the August 2 press conference, Bishop Binga thanked everyone for their support and said he was happy to be chosen to lead the Diocese of Ganda. 

“The focus is on proximity, which will require going out to meet people more,” he said.

Bishop Binga added, “I believe and trust in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; I believe and trust in the Church; I trust in the communion of the Saints. In everything, I give thanks to God.”

Reflecting on some challenges ahead of his Episcopal Ministry in the new Angolan Diocese, he said, “There are areas that are difficult to reach, but we're going to do everything we can so that the church can get there.”

Carved out from the Benguela Diocese, the newly erected Episcopal See becomes one of the suffragan Dioceses in the Metropolitan See of Huambo.

The new Diocese measures 24.447 square kilometers. It has a population of 947.826 of which 633.636 are Catholic faithful, representing 66.9 percent of the total population of the territory of the Diocese, according to 2024 statistics.

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