wfn.org | Angola: First Religion and Human Rights Seminar

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

February 12, 1999
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

Angola: Adventist Church Sponsors First Religion and 
Human Rights Seminar 

Luanda, Angola. [APD]  Amidst war and civil unrest, 
pastors of the Seventh-day Adventist Church gathered 
in Luanda on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the 
Adventist Mission in Angola and hold the first 
Religion and Human Rights Seminar.

"This is the first time that a seminar on freedom of 
conscience and religion has been organized since 
1924," said Vasco Cubenda, president of the Seventh-
day Adventist Church in Angola. 

The meetings brought together more than 70 pastors 
from the four local missions in Angola, one of the 31 
countries in the Euro-Africa region of the of the 
Seventh-day Adventist Church with headquarters in 
Berne, Switzerland.  More than a dozen of these 
pastors came from  Huambo, in Western Central Angola. 

"The city of Huambo, where the headquarters of the 
Union are located, is presently encircled by the armed 
forces of UNITA, hostile to the ruling government," 
said Maurice Verfaillie, Public Affairs and Religious 
Liberty (PARL) director for the Seventh-day Adventist 
Euro-Africa Division. "The seminar participants effort 
to be present was a testimony to their faith and to 
their interest for a better exercise of their 
ministry."

Discussion topics for the seminar dealt with issues 
surrounding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
and religious freedom in Europe and Angola. 

"This seminar answered a need in our country and in 
our church," said Cubenda.  "We need to better 
understand the meaning of our relationship with the 
public authorities and the implications of the right 
of respect for religious freedom and conscience."

Robert S. Folkenberg, president of the Seventh-day 
Adventist World Church, joined thousands of Angolan 
believers in their anniversary celebration in Luanda 
over the weekend. [99/03/01]