The president of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé (CEAST), Mgr. José Manuel Imbamba, criticized Angolan political leaders for prioritizing power at the expense of human dignity. In statements to the ECCLESIA Agency, the archbishop of Saurimo stated that "the world is losing its character" and that there is "much appetite for power, much appetite for the material, much appetite for technology at the expense of the person."
The statements were made on Monday night, in Lisbon, during the presentation of a book on religious heritage in Angola, where Mgr. José Manuel Imbamba presided over the international anniversary pilgrimage of September, in Fatima.
The context of the statements is related to weeks of tension in Angola, after CEAST published a pastoral note expressing "total disgust" at episodes of party intolerance, including violence in the municipalities of Uíge and Cazombo.
Mgr. José Manuel Imbamba advocated for the adoption of "prophetic courage" by Catholic communities to prevent believers from becoming complicit in "structures of sin that are becoming increasingly dangerous." The president of the Angolan episcopate recalled Pope Leo XIV's warnings about the need for an ethical dimension in human activity oriented toward the common good.
