In the message for Lent consulted this Wednesday by the Lusa agency on the official website of the diocese of Angra, Bishop Armando Esteves Domingues states that, this year, two projects will be supported "in equal parts".
"The Melika project, in Matala, Angola, is promoted by the Doroteias Sisters, is already known and has been visited by priests and young people from our diocese in mission experiences. Melika means 'woman, your time has come' and is a multifaceted community development project that aims to help children have trained local teachers", explains the diocesan prelate.
The Bishop of Angra adds that the diocese will support "the construction of four classrooms in Freixiel, each with capacity for 35 students, and also a computer room", with the project budgeted at a total value of 67,328.90 euros.
The other half of the value of donations from the waiving of Lent in the Azores will be donated to an emergency fund to support the Charitable Centers of the parishes of the diocese.
In the message, Armando Esteves Domingues recalls that every year Catholics in the diocese are invited to share their Lenten renunciation with a project that is supported by the diocese of Angra.
"It is not a fundraising campaign, it is not a handout. This money is the sacrifice of people and also the joy of sharing. May it be the fruit of the sacrifices that are being made, of the savings in a poorer diet or superfluous expenses avoided, to be shared, always in a spirit of prayer and conversion", he emphasizes.
It also recalls that in 2024 the Azorean diocese supported two projects with 29 thousand euros, one in São Tomé and Príncipe and the other in Cape Verde.
In his message, the bishop points out that Lent this year "begins with challenges so great that they place the entire Church on its knees before God, from whom it awaits help."
"There is a world at war or preparing for it, changes in the global political and social framework that are creating fear where hope was needed. Many poor people and our brothers and sisters are at risk of losing support from humanitarian projects supported by 'rich countries', with increased problems such as increased poverty, disease and isolation," he points out.
The diocesan prelate of the Azores also speaks of the poor and invites "all men of good will from communities, institutions, local authorities, public services, charitable groups, etc., to a synodal dimension in action, that is, a relational priority that listens to and involves everyone".
"Together, we can carry out, in the territory we share – parish or parish – a careful and updated reading of the existing poverty to consider what and who can help and be a 'giver of hope'", proposes Armando Esteves Domingues.
In the text of the message, the Bishop of Angra also speaks of young people and makes a wish: "May this Lent and Jubilee be, for us and our communities, an opportunity for a new, attentive and serious impulse in their favor."
Catholics begin Lent this Wednesday (Ash Wednesday), which is the 40-day period leading up to Easter, the main Christian festival, marked by periods of fasting and sharing, such as the Lenten renunciation, the proceeds of which are donated to social works and causes.
