Article Credit: https://www.aciafrica.org/
Bishop Maurício Agostinho Camuto of the Catholic Diocese of Caxito in Angola has identified the upsurge of “sects” in his Episcopal See as a major pastoral challenge that must be addressed to safeguard the people of God under his pastoral care from being led astray.
In an interview with ACI Africa on the pastoral situation of his Diocese, Bishop Camuto lauded the ecumenical spirit that he said the Catholic Church is having with members of other Christian denominations.
“It is a small Diocese, but with many challenges, especially the challenge of evangelization itself,” he said about the Angolan Episcopal See that has a total area of 18,916 square kilometers, having been carved out from the Catholic Archdiocese of Luanda in June 2007.
Bishop Maurício Agostinho Camuto of the Catholic Diocese of Caxito in Angola. Credit: ACI Africa
The influence of Protestantism in the territory of Caxito Diocese has been significant, the Angolan member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (CSSp./Holy Ghost Fathers/Spiritans) said during the January 26 interview in Rome. He added that as Catholics, “we are currently involved in ecumenism with our other brothers and sisters of the other Christian denominations, including Protestant churches.”
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There is a particular need for “vigorous evangelization” to address the challenge of “sects that are born every day in our country,” Bishop Camuto said. “A vigorous evangelization must be seriously undertaken … especially to prevent people from being led astray,” he emphasized. Asked if the mushrooming sects are Christian, the Angolan Catholic Bishop said, “It’s a bit difficult to define the sects.”
For those spearheading the various sects, he said, “everything is possible; everything can lead to salvation. It’s disturbing because people, especially those who are less educated, maybe those who are naive, are easily led astray, are easily deceived.”
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As a results of the upsurge of sects, Bishop Camuto went on to say, “we see terrible things in our country; things that have nothing to do with faith, nothing to do with Christianity, nothing to do with God, with salvation.” The challenge of sects in Angola cannot be overlooked, he reiterated, and emphasized the urgent need to enlighten the people of God, communicating and sharing “the Word of God as real food, especially so that it is well understood, so that people know what we want, what their commitment is when they accept to become Christians.”
On the strategies he has put in place to grow Christian faith in his Episcopal See, Bishop Camuto, who has been at the helm of Caxito Diocese since he started his Episcopal Ministry in August 2020 explained, “I personally call on the Clergy to be more authentic in the work of evangelization through the means of catechism. From childhood, the children should be well catechized.”
He also highlighted Parish movements as an important strategy to sustain Christian faith practice in his Diocese. “We have the apostolic movements so that there is also space to learn better, to have a more enlightened faith,” the Spiritan Bishop said referring to his directive to Clergy and women and men Religious to foster the Catholic youth movement, young Catholic adults, Catholic Women Association (CWA), Catholic Men Association (CMA), and the choir, among others.
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“We try to form real parish communities, so that the Christian is aware of his belonging to the parish community and participate in the activities of the parish, participate in the activities of his movement,” he said.
The Local Ordinary of Caxito said he emphasizes active participation in church activities. “We try to avoid anonymous Christians … Since childhood, with the little ones, with the young ones, with the people who are in the movement, we try to put in their consciousness this sense of belonging, to identify with a particular Catholic community and to grow with and in it, giving all it the community needs for it to grow and thrive,” he told ACI Africa.
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In the January 26 interview, Bishop Camuto also lauded Pope Francis for initiating the 2025 Jubilee Year under the theme of hope. Pope Francis announced the start of a Year of Prayer on January 21 in preparation for the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, the second in his Pontificate after the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2015.
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The Holy Father said the 2025 Jubilee Year will be “a year dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in one’s personal life, in the life of the Church, and in the world.”
In line with the 2025 Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year, Bishop Camuto told ACI Africa, “each Christian must make sacrifices for the good of the world, for the health of the world; we must put ourselves at the service of others; by our activities, by our works, we must give hope to others.” As Pilgrims of Hope, we have to say to other that “God will always have, despite all that we live in the world, the last word,” the Spiritan Bishop said Rome.
The 2025 Jubilee Year, he also said, “is the path of life; it pushes us to love, it pushes us to forgiveness, it pushes us, finally, to all the values that help us to be more human. This is what we need today, to be more and more human, to be people who love each other, who forgive each other, who are in solidarity with each other, who try to sow fraternity.”
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“All these are values that today, unfortunately, we see trampled upon or undermined,” he adding that during the ongoing 2025 Jubilee Year, “we must recover them and try to call people to take this into account in their lives.”
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