The Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace of CEAST, in a message for the 2023 National Day of Reconciliation and Peace, which Lusa had access to this Monday, recalls that the national calendar established April 4 as a national holiday to celebrate agreements of peace that put an end to years of "intestinal warfare".
Indeed, underlines the document released this Sunday, at the opening of the day that extends until April 4, 21 years have passed since the silence of arms, "being the longest period of absence of war" that Angola has registered in its almost 48 years of independence.
For this "enormous" task of building "a peace with content for each and every citizen of this portentous country", Angola "needs a new Constitution in accordance with the demands of the present time".
For CEAST, the "current practice makes the country's institutions hostages of the ruling party", the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), in power since 1975.
"The institutions are losing credibility at national and international level because of corruption and impunity, although the state media makes an effort to show another image of Angola", refer the bishops in the note.
The message, referring to the 22nd National Day of Reconciliation and Peace, promoted since 1996 by the Angolan Catholic Church, was presented on Sunday, during a mass presided over, at the Major Seminary of Luanda, by the president of CEAST, Archbishop José Manuel Imbamba.
"Learn to do good and seek justice" is the motto of the days that, according to CEAST, "propel us to seek good and to learn at the school of Sacred Scripture, to seek justice while taking care of the most vulnerable".
On this journey of reconciliation, the Catholic Church invites "introspection and deep reflection on the evils" that "afflict: fetishist mentality, hatred, intolerance, lack of transparency in the management of public affairs, incessant pursuit of power at any price and the instrumentalization of the public media".
Justice "is like a treasure that must be sought and desired", he maintains.
"It is the objective of our pastoral action. Practicing justice helps us to learn to do good. It is knowing how to capture God's will, which is our good", stresses the message.
Angola marks 21 years of peace and national reconciliation on April 4, a national holiday commemorating the signing of peace agreements in 2002.
The Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace of CEAST recognizes that over this period "many things have changed in Angola", praises the "conquests achieved", questioning, however, the current benefits of peace in the lives of citizens.
"It is true that the open war is over, but can it be said that all Angolans live according to the demands of human dignity? It is true that the country, in economic terms, has grown in recent years, but we can say that this growth affects , positively, all social classes in our country?", ask the bishops.
"These questions can be honestly answered by each one of us", they point out.
The Angolan Catholic bishops, in this message signed by Archbishop Gabriel Mbilingi, president of the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace of CEAST, also propose a day that "seeks to cure the degradation and corruption that sin caused in us".
"For this reason, we suggest that, in each place, moments of reflection and a true exercise for the search for justice and good are provided", he points out.
The Day of Peace and National Reconciliation "should awaken in us the conscience of citizenship and the responsibility of feeling like builders of peace. We believe that, remembering this day, makes each one commit, from the scope that corresponds to it" , adds the message.
