February 23, 2025, marks another important chapter in the history of the Congregation: five young Angolan Redemptorists are ordained priests to serve the poor and the most abandoned, following in the footsteps of St. Alphonsus Liguori. They are: António João da Silva (the oldest of the group, 34 years old), José Ângelo Kengue, Carlos Tchipilica Afonso, Francisco Laurindo Lemos, and Eugénio Cawale Chitandula (the youngest, 26 years old).
The ceremony of ordination took place in the parish church of the Catholic Mission of Vouga, Nossa Senhora do Perpétuo Socorro, in the interior of the province of Bié, 35 kilometers from the provincial capital and seat of the diocese. The Eucharistic liturgy with rich in color, music, dance, and celebration, was presided over by Msgr. José de Queirós Alves, CSsR, Archbishop Emeritus of Huambo, and concelebrated by a good number of Redemptorists from all the communities of the Vice-Province, including the Vice-Provincial Superior, Fr. Celino Ndulo. Many religious and secular priests from neighboring dioceses concelebrated.
The large church dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help (a diocesan shrine) was too small to accommodate hundreds of faithful, including the families of the ordained, lay Redemptorists from all communities in Angola, and religious men and women from various Congregations.
The newly ordained completed their novitiate and studied theology in Madagascar, so the sense of celebration for this gift from God also extends to that sister Unit, which we thank for welcoming and accompanying our young people in the formation process, within the framework of interprovincial collaboration at the level of COREAM (Conference of Redemptorists of Africa and Madagascar). We are grateful to all those who have contributed to the fruits we are now reaping for the good of the entire Congregation, not only in Angola but also elsewhere. In fact, two of the newly ordained will exercise their ministry in Mozambique and Portugal, and two others already ordained will join them in August 2024.
Fr. João Pedro Fernandes, CSsR
(Provincial Vice-Secretary)
