Alberto Segunda, who was speaking at the press conference to announce the end of the leadership of Brazilian bishop Honorilton Gonçalves, said that more than 30 Brazilian bishops and pastors have already been deported, with 15 missionaries still remaining.
According to Alberto Segunda, the deportation process of the first two groups of bishops and pastors was not known to the embassy, but after these it began to "follow everything step by step."
"Because the first two groups were called to make a statement and put there they were surprised with the news that they would have to leave the country, without having the chance to say goodbye to their wives, to pick up their things, but from the moment the embassy became aware of this situation it took it to heart and the last groups are leaving the country in a dignified way," he said.
The bishop revealed that the 15 missionaries are waiting for the deportation in their residences, awaiting notification from the authorities.
For Alberto Segunda, the expulsion process of the Brazilian bishops is illegal, taking into account that the letter sent to the Foreigners Migration Service (SME) of Angola, to terminate their functions in the country, was not sent by this direction.
"That is why I say that there are several illegalities that have been committed, because if they had checked before, they would have seen that there were no reasons for this deportation. So it was understood that they should be deported, and what we have to do now is to move on. It is illegal, because we were not the ones who put an end to the Brazilians' work, for us they would stay", he declared.
The new leader of the UCKG in Angola stressed that the contact with the Brazilian embassy in Angola is constant in the last days.
At stake is an internal conflict in the church, which divided its members into two wings, one led until today by Brazilian bishop Honorilton Gonçalves and the other by Angolan bishop Valente Bezerra.
The conflict had its beginning in November 2019, when a group of Angolan dissidents decided to break away from the Brazilian leadership with several allegations of crimes, namely of currency evasion, racism, mandatory practice of vasectomy, among others.
The missionaries of the church created by Brazilian Edir Macedo denied the accusations and also accused the Angolans of xenophobia and aggression.
In the Angolan justice system - after the beginning of disagreements between the parties, aggravated by the forcible takeover of temples all over the country - several lawsuits related to the UCKG Angola are underway.
The Reform Commission of Angolan pastors was legitimized by the Angolan State, and the new management of the UCKG, headed by Bishop Valente Bezerra, was elected in a general assembly on February 13.
