Angolan Archbishop Calls for Reconciliation to Break Cycle of Hatred and Revenge at Fatima Pilgrimage in Portugal

The CEAST President, however, clarified that forgiveness must not be confused with ignoring injustice or denying the suffering caused by wrongdoing.

“Reconciliation does not mean denying injustices. Forgiving does not mean approving the wrong or saying that the injustice did not happen,” he said. 

Rather, he explained, forgiveness is a conscious decision that allows people to confront the truth without allowing the pain of past wounds to determine their future.

“Forgiving is not pretending, amnesia, or erasing the truth, but a decision that prevents pain from continuing to control one’s life,” Archbishop Imbamba said.

He then brought the message of reconciliation closer to the daily lives of families, challenging pilgrims to consider the wounds that can emerge from seemingly ordinary conflicts.

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For the Angolan Catholic Archbishop, the call to forgiveness must therefore begin within the family, where unresolved resentment can gradually destroy relationships and undermine peace.

“Forgiveness must also reach the wounds within our own families,” he said.

Archbishop Imbamba emphasized that forgiveness is ultimately an act of personal decision rather than an emotion that people must wait to feel before acting.

“Forgiveness is not a feeling; it is a decision. Forgiveness does not change the past, but it has the power to free and transform our present and our future,” he said.

The Angolan Catholic Church leader entrusted to Mary at the Shrine of Fátima families and communities wounded by division, as well as a world marked by conflict.

He prayed particularly for “our families and our world, wounded by a lack of humility and forgiveness,” and for “divided homes, strained marriages and estranged siblings.”

Archbishop Imbamba expressed the hope that peace in the world could emerge from people willing to reconcile and reject hatred and revenge.

He prayed that world peace may arise from “reconciled hearts that know how to break the cycle of hatred and revenge.”