The Rt. Rev. Filomena Teta Estêvão, Bishop of Bom Pastor, has secured a dedication from the Angolan Authorities to revive calm within the Southwest African nation, following violent protests within the capital, Luanda.
What started as a three-day strike on July 28 by taxi drivers within the oil-rich nation over rising gas costs and deteriorating dwelling situations has left roughly 22 individuals lifeless, together with a police officer, with over 1,000 arrested and greater than 200 injured.
“As the primary feminine bishop in Angola, and in addition as a mom and church chief, I used to be deeply shaken by the current occasions, which have affected not solely the Church however households and society as a complete,” Teta Estêvão informed The Dwelling Church.
With salaries and providers remaining stagnant, offended demonstrators have rallied round what is taken into account one of many largest uprisings the previous Portuguese colony has seen in many years.
The demonstrators’ cries that they’ll now not afford primary wants have reached Teta Estêvão’s ears.
“I personally met with the Vice-President of the Republic of Angola, Her Excellency Dr. Esperança da Costa, to share considerations concerning the social influence of the disaster. Amongst different points, we mentioned the ache and worry skilled by communities throughout the nation,” she says.
Teta Estêvão provides: “In response to the official communication I acquired, the scenario is now underneath management, and efforts are underway to revive calm and public belief. We proceed to wish and work for justice, peace, and the dignity of each citizen in Angola.”
In response to the publicly-funded Angola Press Company, Teta Estêvão’s name for dialogue, higher justice and equality was bolstered by a separate dialog the Vice-President had with the chief of the Evangelical Pentecostal Maranata Church, the Rev. Leoncio Mungue.
“If we (the Church) can’t positively affect the environment, we should query our effectiveness,” the bishop was quoted as saying whereas calling for construction and collaboration.
She can also be reported to have introduced a number of tasks to the nation’s vice-president “aimed toward selling citizenship, defending susceptible teams and strengthening social establishments supported by the Church.”
The tasks align with commitments Tete Estevão made on February 6 alongside Africa’s 5 different pioneering girls within the episcopate—Dalcy Badeli Dlamini of Swaziland, Elizabeth Awut Ngor of Rumbek, South Sudan, Rose Okeno of Butere, Kenya, Emily Onyango of Bondo, Kenya and Vicentia Kgabe of Lesotho —after they established the Centre for Anglican Girls’s Management and Analysis in Africa (CAWLRA).
CAWLRA seeks to equip girls throughout the Anglican Church and past within the subsequent 5 years to mannequin braveness, knowledge, and resilience by management growth, mentorship, advocacy for gender justice, and analysis.
The Anglican Church in Angola is a part of the Province of the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola (IAMA), whose present Primate is Archbishop Vicente Msosa, based mostly in Mozambique.
Angola additionally drew world consideration final December when ex-US President Joe Biden visited the nation, cementing commerce and safety ties with its individuals. It was his first and solely journey to Africa as president.
An estimated 4 million Angolans had been shipped to the Americas as a part of the trans-Atlantic slave commerce.
Jesse Masai is TLC’s East Africa correspondent, a longtime journalist and communications skilled who has labored in South East Asia and the U.S., in addition to in his native Kenya.
