Angola recognises Catholic Church role
The Angolan top diplomat expressed the recognition at the ceremony of signing the Framework Agreement between Angola and the Holy See, which provides, among others, for the recognition of the legal personality of the Catholic Church in Angola and the ownership of its properties.
Manuel Augusto also praised the role of the Catholic Church in the fields of education, health and culture.
He considered the Framework Agreement as an important instrument that will contribute to the close and strengthening of relations between the Angolan Government and the Holy See, based on the principles of recognition of sovereignty and independence of states.
According to the minister, the progress resulting from the phenomenon of globalization and the need to face the new challenges arising from them force the states, through governments, to find answers and adopt measures that meet the needs and aspirations of their populations.
These and other reasons, Manuel Augusto argued, have made the negotiation of this Agreement relatively long in time and intense in substance.
Angola is a secular state, whose population professes mainly Christianity, with about 60 percent of which are Catholics.
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