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Angola’s Kwito-Bié Catholic Diocese Marks 84th Anniversary with Call to Rebuild, Establish New Parishes

By João Vissesse

Kwito-Bié, 06 September, 2024 / 8:38 pm (ACI Africa).

On the occasion of the 84th anniversary of the erection of the Catholic Diocese of Kwito-Bié in Angola, the Local Ordinary has underscored the need to rebuild Parishes and bring Church services closer to the people of God by establishing new Parishes. 

In his homily during a Wednesday, September 4 Thanksgiving Mass, Bishop Vicente Sanombo invited the people of God in his Episcopal See to participate in the evangelization mission of the Church, including infrastructural development.

“On this significant date, we relive our awareness of being the people of God on pilgrimage in this territory, called to fulfill a mission, namely, to live the mystery of Christ in the world and bring it to men and women, our brothers and sisters,” Bishop Sanombo said.

“We have the natural duty, as Christians, to join forces in rebuilding our parishes or even establishing new ones,” he said during the Eucharistic celebration at St. Lawrence Cathedral of Kwito-Bié Diocese.

He added, “We should aim to create structures for economic sustainability to support the Church's mission in promoting human dignity, particularly in education and health.”

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The Local Ordinary of Kwito-Bié since his installation on July 14 went on to express his awareness of the “many challenges” he has to address in the Angolan Episcopal See, and added, “We have to make an effort to meet the Church's own mission over the centuries with regard to promoting the dignity of the human person, particularly in the field of education and health.”

Reflecting on the vast nature of the Diocese located in Central-Eastern Angola spanning some 70,000 square kilometers, Bishop Sanombo called upon the people under his pastoral care to take action to ensure better living conditions for future generations. 

“While we may not achieve everything ourselves, we must do our part so that future generations can benefit,” he said.

The Angolan Catholic Bishop continued, “We also have the challenge of opening up new missions, if possible. Our territory is immense, it's vast.”

He went on to reflect on the Church’s mission to serve all humanity, saying, “The Church’s vocation is to witness God’s love in the world and serve the whole person.”

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The Church, he said, “cannot be indifferent when human dignity is threatened. This is her very nature.”

“Witnessing to God's love in the world, humbly serving the whole human person is the duty of every Christian,” the 59-year-old Local Ordinary of Kwito-Bié Diocese said, adding, “This is why the Church is always crying out. She doesn't just look after the Spirit. She takes care of the Spirit and of every aspect of the human being.”

Established on 4 September 1940 as the Diocese of Silva Porto, Kwito-Bié Diocese was initially a suffragan of the Catholic Archdiocese of Luanda. It was moved to the Metropolitan See of Huambo in February 1977 and renamed Kwito-Bié Diocese in May 1979.

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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