Church in Angola concerned about witchcraft

September 17, 2010

Witchcraft is increasingly of concern to the Church in Angola, according to a report by the Fides news agency. “Witchcraft is the new war that makes pastoral activity very difficult,” said Father Estevao Mukinda, a Spiritan missionary. Church institutions are also coming to the aid of dozens of children who are being accused of witchcraft.

During the 2009 synod of bishops on the Church in Africa, Bishop Joseph Ekuwem of Nigeria called for renewed catechesis on the reality of demons and the appointment of an exorcist in every diocese, to save Catholics “from the claws of false belief and terrible occult practices like witchcraft.” Referring to the discontinuity between the 1614 and 1999 rites of exorcism, Bishop Ekuwem pleaded for “a new rite based on the old rite of exorcism.”

 

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Further information:

• Missionaries' efforts to eradicate superstition of witchcraft, where first victims are children (Fides)