The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Remedies of Luanda

Luanda · Angola · oldest metropolitan cathedral in Angola

The Cathedral of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, the seat of the archdiocese of Luanda, is the oldest Catholic church in Angola. Founded in 1596 as the seat of the Diocese of Angola and Congo, it has witnessed more than four centuries of Catholic faith in the region.

The oldest diocese in Angola

In 1596, Pope Clement VIII erected the diocese of Angola and Congo (also called São Salvador of Congo), based in the city of Mbanza Congo. This was the first Catholic diocese in the territory of present-day Angola. In 1716, the episcopal seat was moved from Mbanza Congo to Luanda, the Portuguese colonial capital, and the church of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios became a cathedral.

The archdiocese of Luanda was raised to its current rank on 4 September 1940, in the reorganisation of the Church in the Portuguese colonies. Since then, the cathedral has been the center of the Catholic life of Angola, a country where more than half of the population professes the Catholic faith.

Arquitectura colonial

The cathedral features a Portuguese colonial style architecture with a simple facade flanked by two bell towers. The interior houses an altarpiece dedicated to Our Lady of Remedies, images of Portuguese and Angolan saints, and a baptismal pile where generations of Luandens faithful have been baptized.

The building has been restored several times over the centuries, especially after Angola's independence in 1975, when the civil war damaged many of the country's infrastructure. The cathedral survived the conflict and continued to be the center of the archdiocese.

Luanda: a city of faith

Luanda, the capital of Angola, is a megalopolis of over 8 million inhabitants. The archdiocese of Luanda is the largest in the country, with approximately 3 million Catholics (63% of the population of the archdiocese). The cathedral celebrates daily and Sunday masses that attract thousands of faithful, especially on Sunday morning.

The parish life in Luanda is intense: catechesis, prayer groups, co-fradies of the Rosary, charity associations and lay movements. The cathedral functions as the "mother parish" of the city, coordinating the pastoral work with the numerous parishes of the periphery.

The Bishops of Luanda

From the first bishop, Miguel Rangel (1596-1602), to the current Archbishop Filomeno do Nascimento Vieira Días (since 2014), the seat of Luanda has been occupied by more than 30 bishops and archbishops. Among the most prominent are Alexandre do Nascimento (1986- 2001), created Cardinal by John Paul II in 1983, and Damião António Franklin (2001- 2014), who led the archdiocese during a period of peace and reconstruction.