Mons. José Manuel ImbambaArchbishop of Saurimo (Angola), asked the civil authorities to penalize the practice of divination in the country, warning that “they are destroying communities, dividing families and hindering development.”
During a press conference on Thursday, June 19, at the end of a 14 -day pastoral visit to the parishes Our Lady of Fatima de Muonda and Santa Teresita del Niño Jesús de Dala – belonging to his ecclesiastical jurisdiction – the Archbishop Imbamba said that he met people “deeply affected by the actions of the fortune tellers.”
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“We have found people whose honor and dignity have been destroyed. I ask the authorities and the jurists of this country to urgently penalize fortune tellers in our land,” said the Prelate, who is also president of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and Santo Tomé and Prince.
In addition, he regretted that fortune tellers “are destroying communities, dividing and impoverishing families, killing development. For me, this must now face. Being passive witnesses of this robbery show and lies is to allow the collapse of society itself.”
Mons. Imbamba expressed concern about fear and superstition that still prevail in Angola: “We must free ourselves from the myths and falsehoods that make us believe that death is always caused by another. Our society must become a society of knowledge, science and reason” ..
“We can no longer fall into the trap of thinking that a doll or object gives us life, wealth or fame. This obsolete mentality must be eradicated,” he added.
Mons. Imbamba also criticized educated people who participate or tolerate these practices. “Those called doctors and graduates who still cling to these superstitions are not free from the darkness of ignorance. They are still culturally slaves,” he warned.
In addition, he called for a legal intervention through an adequate legal framework, since “this issue is often ruled out as part of the right of uses and customs, but we must reform those customs. Culture must free, not oppress.”
“Last year, one of these people went home at home demanding payments, entering without permission, claiming that I was looking for witchcraft. It is often their accomplices who place suspicious objects in homes to validate their false claims,” he said about an incident that occurred in an Angolan province.
For the prelate, “it is unacceptable that the authorities do nothing while these people bother peaceful citizens, entering private properties under the pretext of fetishism. This must end.”
“The authorities must sit and say: our jurists must criminalize this. Because the violations that are being committed are indescribable,” he added.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in Aci África.
João visited
João Vissesse is an Angolan journalist with abundant experience in communication and the apostolate of the media of the Catholic Church.