New Bishop in Angola Celebrates a Moment of Joy and “fear” on Ordination

Archbishop Dias who is the Local Ordinary of Angola’s Luanda Archdiocese further urged the new Prelate to get closer to the people of God, Clerics, the sick and all those with broken hearts.

The President of CEAST encouraged Bishop Maurício to always draw strength from God “as strength and faith in Jesus Christ does not impoverish man. It renews man and projects him to his true dimension.”

The ordination was also attended by the Bishop of Benguela, Bishop António Jaca, founder of the Diocese of Caxito, members of the local government, representatives of civil society and thousands of Catholic faithful.

Also present was Bishop Jesus Tilson Blaco of the Diocese of Luena who said that the new Bishop was “a worthy Bishop for Caxito, because of his willingness to execute his mandate, basing on his previous roles.”

Bishop Maurício was, on June 15, appointed second Local Ordinary of the diocese that was erected in June 2017, a see that had been vacant since March 2018 when Pope Francis transferred Bishop António Francisco Jaca to the Diocese of Benguela.

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Aged 57, Bishop Maurício was born in the province of Kwanza Norte within the Diocese of Ndalatando in Angola. He had his Religious and Priestly formation in Congo-Brazzaville, taking his Religious vows as a Spiritan in September 1987. He was ordained a Spiritan Priest in July 1991.

He is an alumnus of the Rome-based Pontifical Salesian University where he studied Social Communication from 2000 to 2003. He has previously served in the Commission for Communications of CEAST and for six years since 2010, as the Provincial Superior of the Spiritans in Angola.

Until his appointment, the new Bishop had been the Director of Radio Ecclesia, the National Catholic Radio in Angola.

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.