The National Institute for Religious Affairs (INAR) recently confirmed the leadership of Bishop Valente Bizerra Luís in the reform committee of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Angola (IURD Angola)
In a letter addressed to that religious institution, on 17 November last, INAR states that, for the purposes of the legality of the leadership of IURD Angola, Republic Diary, Series III, number 129, of 26 November 2020 is sufficient.
This official bulletin of the State contains the Minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting, of 24 June, and the Certificate of Certification of other facts, issued by the fourth Notary Office of Luanda.
The Republic Diary confirms the election of representatives of IURD Angola and empowers the coordinator of the Reform Commission, Valente Bizerra Luís, to represent the church of Brazilian origin in Angola.
According to the document, which ANGOP had access to on Monday, the advisory council is made up of bishops, pastors, workers, and church members who signed the memorandum on the creation of the reform commission.
The official publication states that Valente Bizerra Luís has the task of representing the church in the various state bodies, civil, public, and private associations, as well as negotiating, receiving goods, means, and related services.
Bishop Valente Bezerra Luiz, the first Angolan to be ordained IURD pastor in the country and with more than 28 years of work for the church, they brought a long list of accusations, which involved racism (Brazilians would reserve the lowest ranks in the hierarchy for Africans ), evasion of foreign exchange (illegal sending of money collected in services to Brazil), money laundering (through irregular transactions of real estate), the imposition of vasectomy (so that paternity does not divert attention from work in the temples) and abuse of power
The crisis at the IURD in Angola results from deep differences between Angolan and Brazilian pastors and bishops over the management of that institution, with complaints of humiliation, injustice, and discrimination presented by Angolans.
Installed on November 28, 2019, with the release of a manifesto critical to the direction of the church in Brazil, the conflict intensified in June this year, when pastors and bishops became involved in an intense exchange of accusations and physical aggressions.
Since the occurrence, registered in several provinces of the country, the Management Commission has taken control of dozens of temples.
At the time when the first sign of the crisis occurred, 320 pastors and bishops accused the former Brazilian partners of various irregularities and, from then on, the situation degenerated into an arm wrestling by the leadership of the IURD in the country.
Among the main factors of the conflict, according to the manifest, the demand for the practice of vasectomy for Angolan pastors, forced abortions, racism, alienation of more than half of the church’s assets, money laundering, and foreign exchange evasion are noteworthy.
The manifesto also denounces the falsification of the minutes of election of IURD’s governing bodies, the issuing of powers of attorney with full powers to Brazilian citizens to exercise acts reserved for the general meeting.
The accusations also include the prohibition of women pastors from having access to academic-scientific and technical-professional training, irregularities in the payment of social security, and lack of a pastoral development project in specific theological training.
