José Manuel Imbamba said that the Angolan Church will continue to work on the "spirit of communion, faithfulness and collaboration and in the spirit of obedience to Christ in the person of the Holy Father."
"In order to evangelize in depth, we provoke authentic conversions and so can be a church of Christ in this world that needs profound transformations, evangelical transformations, so we are also in expectation as a conference," he said in statements to the Catholic broadcaster of Angola.
Angolan archbishop congratulated the pontiff for the election and highlighted the need for the "sinodal path," noted on Thursday by the new Pope, stressing that the Catholic Church "is a dialogical movement, it is a movement of listening and discernment."
The Church "is a movement of decisions, all this always based on the sound doctrine, the sound tradition, the foundation of Scripture and all that will make the church always light, salt and yeast in the society we have seen."
José Manuel Imbamba, also the archbishop of Saurimo, also expressed belief that Francis's successor leads a “always more open, (...) that must transform the world, which must inject these evangelical virtues that the world is in need today”.
On Friday, the Council of Christian Churches in Angola (CICA) had expressed the desire that the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV was "a time of healing, reconciliation and hope for all."
"May the wisdom and faith in Christ Jesus guide him in the mission of serving the Church and to promote peace and well-being in a world in constant turbulence," it refers to the congratulations message of this institution composed of 21 effective members, two associates and one observer.
Cica also hopes that the ecumenical commitment will be “one of its priorities, to solidify the unity of the body of Christ”, congratulating the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as new Pope Leo XIV.
American cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was elected Pope on Thursday, after two days of Conclave, and took the name of Leo XIV. Born in Chicago, United States, he has Spanish ancestry and Peruvian nationality, and belongs to the Order of St. Augustine. Leo XIV succeeds Pope Francis, who died on April 21 at the age of 88.
