Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of State for the Social Area, Dalva Ringote Allen, highlighted, on Sunday, in Luanda, the importance of the church for the rescue of moral and civic values, healthy coexistence and social harmony.
“We need, with the churches, as undeniable partners of the State, to restore our civic moral values and respect for the good of others, whether everyone or the public”, said the State Minister.
Dalva Ringote Allen explained that public investments must be preserved, namely schools, water and electricity supply systems and public transport.
The Minister of State for the Social Area made these considerations on the occasion of the thanksgiving service, held at the 22 de Junho stadium, in Luanda, for the investiture of the 8th general secretary of the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA), Luciano Chianeque, in front of an audience of more than 12 thousand national and foreign faithful.
The provincial governor of Luanda, Manuel Homem, said, on the occasion, that the church has an “immeasurable role, being an important pillar for consolidating the environment of peace, brotherhood and social solidarity”.
In addition to representatives of political parties with seats in parliament and civil society, the Reverend and General Secretary of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA), the Namibian Kudzani Ndebele, the South African Reverend Coenraad Wiliams and the American from the United Church of Christ, Michael Solber, were also invited.
New secretary general
Luciano Chanhelelã Chianeque, the new secretary general of IECA, was born on February 10, 1963, in the village of Etunda Capoco, in the municipality of Cachiungo, province of Huambo.
Reverend Luciano Chanhelelã Chianeque is married to Chemba Geraldina Chisika Chaneque and is the father of three children.
In 1987, he was consecrated as a pastor by the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola, at the age of 24.
Luciano Chianeque won the election held in March, in Lubango, Huíla province, by defeating the reverends Abias Cauto, Azevedo Bambi and Américo Cassequissa.
With the victory, the new general secretary of the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola replaces the emeritus André Cangove Eurico, according to the church’s statutes and regulations. According to the IECA, André Cangove Eurico fulfilled the two regulatory mandates of five years each.
Continued preservation of the culture of peace and dialogue
The Minister of State for Social Affairs, Dalva Ringote Allen, asked on Saturday, in the province of Huambo, for the faithful of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Angola to continue to spread the culture of peace, through dialogue, especially with young people, in order to encourage tolerance and solidarity.
Dalva Ringote Allen also asked, during the solemn service celebrating the centenary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Angola, held at Missão do Bongo, in the municipality of Longonjo, for the church to continue to be a positive agent in society, in transmitting values morals.
At the service, which brought together more than ten thousand people, including faithful and guests, from various provinces of the country and parts of the world, the minister stated that the mission of the Angolan State is to guarantee the dignity of the human person and the construction of a fair, democratic, supportive, peaceful, egalitarian and socially progressive society, so that man is at the center of attention.
The cooperative relationship between the Executive and the Church, he argued, is compatible. Religious institutions, he said, have been important partners of the State, due to their social nature, characterized by charity, proving to be an added value in complementing efforts to guarantee essential services to the population.
The church, he said, has stood out in the areas of education, health, basic social protection or groups in vulnerable situations and counseling for people in conflict with the law.
The motto chosen for the centenary: “New Time, in the Same Mission”, he said, attributes increased responsibility to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Angola, within the framework of promoting ethical and moral values.
Vandalization of public assets
The Minister of State for the Social Area lamented the current increase in vandalization of public goods and services, the exploitation of child labor, sexual harassment and rape of minors and violence against women.
The church, he recalled, is called, due to the increase in these cases, to work more to rescue moral and ethical values, teaching good habits and customs of social coexistence.
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