In an invitation to the press to cover the event on Sunday, the IURD management highlighted that the religious association is led by the general presbyter, Bishop Alberto Segunda, represented at the event by Bishop António Miguel Ferraz, as president of the Board of Directors.
According to the document sent to Lusa, on August 31, 2023 “the Angolan State promoted a conciliation agreement for the leadership of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God”, which allowed “the resolution of existing conflicts in the church, creating the bases so that everyone could unite in a single spirit of peace, harmony, respect for the deliberations of the State and the social bodies of the IURD”.
In September last year, the Brazilian and Angolan wings had announced a "conciliatory decision promoted by the Angolan State", which recognized Alberto Segunda as leader of the organization, which would be called Church of the Kingdom of God in Angola (IRDA).
“In this sense, and in compliance with the Conciliatory Agreement, this Extraordinary Universal General Assembly marks the beginning of a new era, with a view to electing candidates for the position of general presbyter and social bodies of the church”, highlights up in the note.
The IURD in Angola has maintained a conflict for several years, with a two-headed leadership divided between the reformist wing, called Angolan, headed by Valente Bizerra Luís, and the Brazilian wing of the sect founded by Brazilian Edir Macedo, currently led by also Angolan Alberto Segunda, who replaced Brazilian Honorilton Gonçalves, convicted of crimes of physical and psychological violence and serving a three-year suspended sentence.
In another press release, signed by the president of the IURD-Angola general assembly, Bishop Capinha Salvador Paulo Domingos, the dissidents announce that “IURD-Angola has not called any general assembly and is not linked to the so-called general assembly by one of the bishops linked to Bishop Alberto Segunda, in a false capacity, to deceive the faithful and society, without being mandated to do so by the leadership of the Church”.
The IURD-Angola management commits itself “within the spirit of unity and unification to the brothers who still remain faithful to the Brazilian leadership of Edir Macedo” and, fully following the guidelines of the Angolan State administration bodies, “who do everything to may the church remain one and indivisible”, continue to make efforts to achieve this objective.
“IURD-Angola remains faithful to the principles that led to the IURD reform movement, which consists of putting an end to vasectomy, holy fires and capital evasion to Brazil. They remain faithful to an exclusively Angolan church, which submits to the laws and respects national culture”, highlights the same statement.
The Angolan part of this religious association said that it has followed the announcement of the general assembly for the election of new church management bodies, considering that “this information not only does not match the truth but also constitutes a serious violation of the church's statutes and resolutions issued from the extraordinary general meeting of February 13, 2021 and the ordinary one held in May 2023".
Valente Bizerra's leadership also appeals to the faithful “not to join any movements that aim at division”.
“The leadership of the Church, at the appropriate time, will convene a general assembly with a view to adopting the new name and the election of new social bodies”, the statement highlights, affirming loyalty to the leader, Bishop Valente Bizerra Luís, “ elected by the clergy and recognized by the Angolan State, that is, the only legitimate interlocutor between the State and the Church, to direct the institution in Angola”.
