The president of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé, Mgr. José Imbamba, archbishop of Saurimo, presided over the International Anniversary Pilgrimage of September at the Shrine of Fatima on September 13, 2026. In his homily, he invited the faithful to forgiveness within families, in society, and among nations, specifically referring to the "unjust debts" that some powerful countries impose on smaller countries.
In his reflection, Mgr. José Imbamba emphasized that forgiving does not mean approving the error, pretending amnesia, or erasing the truth, but rather preventing pain from taking over each person's life. He stated that resentment and anger corrode from within, steal peace, and destroy quality of life, warning that whoever lives for revenge becomes a prisoner of the past.
The prelate based his homily on the Gospel passage where the apostle Peter asks Jesus about the limit of times he should forgive an offense, receiving the answer "seventy times seven." Mgr. José Imbamba explained that this answer does not ask for an arithmetic count of 490 times, but rather that forgiveness is unlimited, like the love, justice, and mercy of God.
Mgr. José Imbamba also told the parable of the king who forgave an incalculable debt to one of his servants, who then had another servant who owed him an insignificant amount imprisoned. The prelate asked the Virgin Mary to intercede for peace throughout the world, entrusting to her divided homes, worn-out marriages, and quarreling siblings. The pilgrimage commemorates the fifth apparition of Our Lady to the shepherd children on September 13, 1917.
