Africa-Press – Angola. Angolan sociologist and professor Maria de Fátima Viegas launched her literary work “Relations between the State and Churches in Angola (1975-2025)”, in Luanda.
The book analyzes religion as an instrument that enables breakaways, innovations, and socio-cultural changes. The work, consisting of 653 pages and 17 chapters, addresses topics such as “Overview of the Religious Phenomenon in Independent Angola,” “Religion and Peacebuilding in Angola,” “The Presence of Islam in Angola,” “Angola 50 Years: Immigration and Religion – A Transcultural Dialogue,” and others.
The book reveals a concern for the religious phenomenon in the country, the role of the State and the Church throughout the period of conflict that Angola experienced, as well as the pacification of spirits as a fundamental element for national reconciliation.
According to the author, the book is the result of experiences and research, and its launch is part of the 50th anniversary of Angola’s Independence, celebrated on November 11, 2025.
She said that by launching the work, she intends to encourage young students and social researchers to undertake in-depth sociological and anthropological studies on religion, from an integrated, non-discriminatory social perspective.
She mentioned that over the past 50 years, relations between the State and religion have undergone several changes, which can be classified into four phases: the first being that of independence, with Marxist ideology, as religion was the opium of the people. “The church was the instrument that would hinder the development of the revolutionary man, because there was no pleasant relationship between the two institutions,” she said. The other phases, she continued, emerged from the 1990s onwards, changing towards improvements in relations between the State and religion.
To the writer, the State and the churches already related in the sense of looking at man and seeing his particularities for the development of society.
On that occasion, the Minister of State for Social Affairs, Maria Bragança, said that this work will help society to understand, in a profound way, how the two entities have worked together to improve human relations over 50 years.
According to the minister, the work will contribute to young people acquiring knowledge about the historical relationship between the State and religions. To Maria Bragança, the title of the book demonstrates the importance of the topic for society.
In turn, the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Luanda, Dom António Bengue, stressed that in current times there is a good relationship between the State and the churches, considering that the Angolan Government considers religions as a very important social part. The founding leader and legal representative of the United Eternal Sanctified Church of Angola, Víctor David, considered the work as a valuable asset between the State and religions and that it could
enrich the Angolan cultural mosaic.
Maria de Fátima Viegas is asociologist, university lecturer, and researcher recognized for her academic and institutional contribution to the analysis of
socio-cultural and religious dynamics in Angola.
With a consolidated career in higher education, she has taught at the Higher Institute of Educational Sciences, the Faculty of Social Sciences at Agostinho Neto University, the Catholic University of Angola, among others. She is the author of reference works such as “Angola and Religions,” “The Management of Disease in the Sociocultural and Urban Space of Luanda,” and “Traditional and Neo-traditional Healers.” Institutionally, she has served as Director-General of the National Institute for Religious Affairs, Director of the Office for Citizenship and Civil Society of the Central Committee of the MPLA, and Secretary to the President of the Republic for Social Affairs.
