Menongue: Bishop Leopoldo Ndakalako, President of the Episcopal Commission for the Clergy and Consecrated Life of the Bishops' Conference of Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe (CEAST), has called on members of religious institutes across Southern Africa to embrace Consecrated Life as a radical witness of faith, not a professional career or position of authority.
Speaking during the opening Mass of the Second Assembly of the Regional Conference of Major Superiors of Southern Africa (RCMSSA) at the Mama Muxima Spirituality Center, Bishop Ndakalako described Consecrated Life as “a living parable” an existence fully offered to God and to others.
“Consecrated Life is not a career. It is a sacrament of coherence and fidelity to God,” he said. “It is transparency, a life of sacrifice, a life given entirely to God and to brothers and sisters.” He further stressed that it is “not merely a religious profession; it is an offered existence”, calling members of the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL) to renewed fidelity amid the pastoral and social realities confronting communities across the region.
Bishop Ndakalako cautioned against equating consecration with status, power, or visibility within Church structures. Instead, he urged consecrated men and women to embody the Gospel through personal witness and selfless service. “The Consecrated Person is called to be the Gospel in the flesh,” he said, emphasizing that such authentic living is essential for Consecrated Life to remain credible and transformative in contemporary African societies, marked by inequality, suffering, and moral uncertainty.
He framed his message around gift, sacrifice, and coherence, presenting Consecrated Life as a visible sign of the Gospel its value arising not from function or rank, but from faithful witness and total self-giving.
Acknowledging the rapidly evolving technological landscape, Bishop Ndakalako addressed the influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other modern tools, warning that their misuse could undermine discernment and diminish the human person to mere data points.
“Consecrated Life in Africa today must be a living memory of the primacy of the person,” he said. “Artificial intelligence is not an enemy of faith, but it becomes dangerous when it replaces discernment, automates conscience, or reduces the person to data. In a world that calculates, we must contemplate. In a world that accelerates, we must discern. In a world that consumes, we must safeguard and preserve. In a world that measures, we must love.”
Calling on ICLSAL members to return to the “Galilee of vocation”, where their initial call began, Bishop Ndakalako encouraged participants to transform structures into spaces of discernment and live their vocation with authentic joy, noting that sadness in a consecrated person is a counter-witness to the Gospel.
“This Regional Conference is therefore called to form Consecrated Persons capable of dialoguing with technology without losing the soul of Consecrated Life,” he added. “It must serve as a critical conscience, organized hope, communal prophecy, and boldness for a better future.”
The assembly, running from January 27 to February 3, carries the theme “Consecrated for the mission, walking together in hope and communion,” with the subtheme “Memory, identity, and discernment for the future.”
RCMSSA President Fr. Joaquim José Luís Pedro also addressed the gathering, emphasizing the importance of walking together in communion and hope. He highlighted that new paths and opportunities for discernment can only emerge when religious institutes collaborate. “Communion makes it possible to overcome obstacles, create new paths, and strengthen the mission of Consecrated Life in the region,” Fr. Pedro said, stressing that joint efforts can open avenues of hope, unity, and spiritual renewal.