Marist presence in Angola

The Marist Brothers arrived in Angola in 1954 and today the Marist presence is linked to the Province of South Africa. The Marist community is especially dedicated to education, and they work together, Brothers and lay people.

There are nine Brothers present in the country and they are distributed in three communities: Luanda, Kuito-Bié and Kwanza-Note “Ndalatando”. Seven Brothers are Angolan, one Brother is Brazilian and one Brother is Spanish. Since 2015, there has been a fraternity of the Champagnat Movement in Kuito-Bié and another fraternity is in the process of being created in Luanda.

In Luanda, where there are four brothers, there is a school which has three sections: primary (from the first to the sixth year), compulsory secondary (from the seventh to the ninth year) and the secondary school (from the tenth to the thirteenth year), dedicated mainly to the formation of teachers. The school has about 70 students.

Three Angolan Brothers are in Kuito-Bié, and they run the São José Marist Teacher Training School for students in grades 10 to 13.

Two brothers from Angola live in Kwanza-Note “Ndalatando” and are in charge of a primary school, where the children attend from the first to the ninth year of education.

The Marist vocation is fairly fertile and there is a need for people to transmit the charism of Saint Marcellin Champagnat. In addition to working with the laity, the Brothers are also dedicated to promoting Marist religious life. The Province of Southern Africa has vocations for the Angolan Brothers at all stages of initial formation (7 in MIC, 4 in the novitiate and three in the postulancy). There is also an aspirant’s house in Kuito-Bié, which receives candidates wishing to follow Marist life as consecrated religious, and which currently numbers 20 young people.