Icolo e Bengo - The Minister of Culture, Filipe Zau, on Sunday Luanda, urged churches to remain partners of the state in favor of national unity, development and social welfare.
The minister made the call during the religious ceremony of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the World (The Tocoista), which marked the end of the pilgrimage to the Catete Shrine that began on April 17.
The pilgrimage aimed to pray for peace in the world, especially for political stability in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as to commemorate the 89th anniversary of the theophany of Simão Gonçalves Toco, the founding prophet of the Tocoism movement.
According to Filipe Zau, peace, democratic rule of law, human rights and social justice are inalienable values of a participatory, representative democracy, in which the cultural role of religiosity and civic spirit, deontology and ethics are part of the exercise of citizenship.
The minister underlined that the state's partners contribute to a particularly important role for the churches, "which guarantee the values that society needs, so that citizens can relate to each other in an appropriate way, in a context of brotherhood and permanent solidarity".
Filipe Zau recalled the ups and downs that Angolans went through as a result of the armed conflict in the country, from independence until the signing of the peace agreement in 2002.
Of the harmful consequences of the war, he highlighted the weak functioning of the health system, the shortage of staff in this sector and in education, as well as the high number of mortality rates.
According to Filipe Zau, at that time, because of the war, Angola was on the list of countries with the lowest health indicators in the world, and the government even spent more on war material instead of improving social conditions.
The pilgrimage to the Catete Shrine is an annual event, this year’s edition took place under the slogan "Let us celebrate theophany with prayer to God in favor of peace in the world and stability in the DRC".
AJQ/MRA/AMP
