The International Mission of ANGOLA

The International Mission of Angola in Lombe is part of the Archdiocese of Malanje, which has only ten diocesan priests. Of its 24 parishes and missions, only 10 have a priest. In the others, there is a religious community, or just some laity. The mission is in a very poor location (90% of the population live in rural areas). Illiteracy is almost 90% in the adult population. There is little participation of men and young people in the life of communities and very little perseverance. There is a high rate of pregnancy among young girls. Diseases, such as malaria, claim many lives annually, especially those of children. We collaborate in different ways. Our main concern is to include and form the laity and the religious who reside in our mission. Our ministry involves visits to the communities, formation of the laity, pastoral work with children, collaboration on the Archdiocesan Biblical Commission, spiritual direction in the Archdiocesan Seminary, retreats to religious, classes for aspirants to different women’s congregations, classes for the Missionary Sisters of Saint John the Baptist, accompaniment of the Branches of the Vincentian Family (especially the Daughters of Charity, SSVP, MISEVI, AMM, VMY). The present superior is returning to his province in January and the other confrere will remain alone. Therefore, there is an urgent need for one or two more missionaries. There are vocations, but work needs to be done on Vincentian vocations, so the third missionary could accompany vocations and support other works.