"We want our church", shouted the faithful of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) who gathered this Saturday since 2:00 pm near the port of Luanda, from where they left, under an intense sun, towards the Fortress of St. Michael, the oldest historical landmark of the capital.
With 't-shirts' alluding to the protest, posters and banners, the faithful, workers and pastors of the UCKG Angola wanted to make clear that they are against the dissident wing, which was constituted in the Reform Commission, whose leader, Bishop Valente, was recently recognized by the National Institute for Religious Affairs (INAR) as a representative of the church of Brazilian origin in Angola.
"We, the Angolan members and workers, do not accept the reform," read on a banner. "To accept the reform is to legalize crime," said another. "Angola is a secular country. We want religious freedom" and "IURD, one body, one faith and one spirit", were other visible phrases.
Joana Domingos, one of the participants, appealed to the government to open the doors of the cathedrals.
"We are already one year of closed doors, it's a long time, we want our Government, our President João Lourenço to help open the church, our country has law", he asked.
The Angolan Attorney General's Office seized and ordered the closure, last year, of the cathedrals of the UCKG in several provinces for the alleged crimes of criminal association, tax fraud, illicit export of capital and other illicit of similar nature, following the dispute between the dissidents of the Angolan wing and the Brazilian pastors of the church founded by Edir Macedo.
The UCKG considered, however, that the seizures were illegal and an attack on religious freedom.
"The church is greatly missed by the Angolan people, many souls are suffering and we, the mothers, are tired. With this sun we are here appealing to the government to help us," said Joana Domingos to Lusa.
Asked about the dispute, she considered that it is "a group of ex-pastors who want to divide the church" and that it is "the law that should solve the problems.
The Angolan wing stated that the decision to break with the Brazilian representation in Angola, headed by Bishop Honorilton Gonçalves, faithful to Edir Macedo, was due to practices contrary to religion, such as the demand for the practice of vasectomy, chemical castration, practices of racism, social discrimination, abuse of authority, in addition to the evasion of foreign currency outside the country.
The allegations are denied by the UCKG Angola, which in turn accused the dissidents of "xenophobic attacks" and aggressions to pastors and also filed legal proceedings against the former members.
"There is nothing in the world that has no solution, it has to be solved, that is why the law exists," argued Joana Domingos, saying that "if there is evidence" must be presented.
Magalhães Carlos, a worker at the UCKG also asked the government for help in finding a solution that would allow the cult to resume.
"We are here today to show our uprising, we are tired of seeing the church doors closed. The church is a school, it's a hospital, it's a place where we learn everything that is good. The Angolan government doesn't even know how much it is losing in this," he told Lusa.
The religious also criticized the reformist wing, because "the Church is only one" and Bishop Macedo "teaches discipline within the Church", considering that the complaints of the dissidents "do not justify any of this".
"A person who says he wants a reform, that person is out of the spiritual context," he contested, criticizing the revolt against the direction of Universal.
Magalhães Carlos also pointed out that the church does not require vasectomy, although he recognized that there is "a council" in this sense when the workers intend to ascend to pastors.
Adelino Valter pointed out that the members and workers of the UCKG are dissatisfied with the closure of the temples: "They are unable to worship. Taking into account that the right to worship is inviolable, according to article 41 of the Constitution, the people come to appeal to the Government of Angola, to the authorities, to decide as soon as possible on the issue".
"It is not possible for the church to be accused of certain crimes and while these crimes are not proven, the church is soon punished," lamented the believer, criticizing the group of people "who wanted to receive the leadership of the church illegally.
Unlike recent demonstrations in Luanda, unauthorized, the organization of the UCKG thanked, in the end, for the support given by the Provincial Government of Luanda and police authorities to the initiative that, according to church sources, gathered more than 10 thousand faithful in the march that culminated with a prayer.
