SVD
Generalate

The missionary work, as in many other countries, centers around parish life. However, there are significant differences between urban and rural parishes. Parishes in the interior often cover vast areas with numerous small communities, many of them distant from one another and difficult to reach. In both cities and rural areas, the need for a first evangelization remains, representing a unique opportunity to proclaim the Good News to those who have not yet heard it.

In this process, catechists play an indispensable role, serving as a bridge between faith and local culture, and ensuring the continuity of evangelization even in the absence of missionaries. Coming from the same communities and being deeply familiar with their mentality and traditions, they are able to communicate the Gospel message in a close and effective way.

Both in Angola and Mozambique, the people show extraordinary hospitality, generosity, and a deep attachment to the Church. Their active participation in Masses, catechesis, and religious celebrations is a testament to their sincere longing for God—an invitation that our confreres meet with dedication and joy.

The groups of lay collaborators associated with our Congregation are also growing dynamically. In both countries, our confreres accompany these groups and take responsibility for their formation. It is worth noting that the laity are taking on concrete formative and social initiatives in favor of the most vulnerable, becoming active participants in the mission and faithful partners in proclaiming the Gospel.

Most of our communities in Angola and Mozambique have not yet achieved economic self-sufficiency, but concrete measures are being taken to change this reality. In rural areas, the confreres cultivate the land and raise livestock for their own needs. In the cities—especially in Angola—they administer schools and participate actively in education. In Mozambique, besides a primary school that is already being run efficiently by one confrere, there are plans to open a technical school, which will offer new opportunities for formation. When well managed, these initiatives not only provide education to local communities but also generate resources for the future development of missionary work.

Our confreres strive to ensure that their mission maintains a distinctly Divine Word character: rooted in intercultural dialogue, openness, and service to those most in need. In both countries—scarred by the tragic experience of civil war—our international and multicultural communities, where confreres of different nationalities live, pray, and work together, are a witness that human differences need not lead to division, but can instead become a source of inspiration for unity and reconciliation.

A hopeful sign of the times in Angola and Mozambique is the growing number of vocations and candidates to our Congregation. According to recent data from the Annuario Pontificio, Africa is currently the only continent where the number of priests and consecrated persons continues to rise steadily. To respond adequately to this sign of the times, in addition to the dedicated formators already serving in Angola and Mozambique, we need more confreres trained for formation work, as well as formation houses suited to the increasing number of candidates.

Challenges remain: from health issues and a lack of infrastructure to the need for long-term planning. Even so, the missions our Congregation continues to lead in Angola and Mozambique stand as a living testimony of the missionary dynamism and charism of the Divine Word, making God’s love present where hope most needs to be rekindled.