The position is contained in the communiqué of the II Annual Plenary Assembly of CEAST that ended in Luanda, where they argue the measure as an assumption under the Framework Agreement between the State and the Vatican.
"At the level of our dioceses, marriages must follow the procedures provided for in the framework agreement and in the respective regulation on concordat marriage", they say.
The Catholic bishops, in this document presented at a press conference, also recommend that the dioceses "intensify formation for synodality and prayer for the Synod, whose first session will take place in Rome, next October".
On religious life in Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe, the bishops approved the pastoral message for the third year of the Children's Triennium (2023-2024) entitled "The Integration of the Child in Church and Society" and the pastoral note "Being Salt , Luz e Fermento", about the social reality of both countries.
"Unfortunately, our families are exposed to different conditions, some external, such as atheism and religious confessions that create instability with the type of message, devoid of truth, sound doctrine and good customs, that they convey, and others internal, such as sins of escaping fatherhood, violence, polygamy and others", refers in the pastoral note.
For the Catholic bishops, being salt, light and yeast in society and culture translates into the action of each baptized person to be a protagonist of the church's mission, through their integration in social projects, whether in health, education and eradication of hunger, unemployment and other diseases from which the Angolan and São Tomé "social body" suffers.
The II Annual Plenary Assembly of CEAST bishops took place between the 23rd and 28th of August at its headquarters in Luanda.
