André Soares (born 7 May 1956) is an Angolan Anglican bishop. He has been the first

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Bishop of Angola since 2003. He is married to Janete João and they have eight children, six sons and two daughters.

Ecclesiastical career

Soares was born in a village of Kinfinga, near Songo, and educated at the Pastoral Institute in

Lukala Lukala is one of a number of towns in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with this name. This one is in Bas-Congo province, nearest the ocean. Transport Lukala is served by Lukala Airport and by a station on the Congo Railway network. In ...

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

an Anglican priest in 1984 and began working in

Uíge Province Uíge (pronunciation: ; kg, Wizidi) is one of the eighteen Provinces of Angola, located in the northwestern part of the country. Its capital city is of the same name. History During the Middle Ages, the Uíge Province was the heartland of the ...

. In 1992 he became the Episcopal Delegate for

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. In 2000 he was elected Vice-President of the Angolan Council of Churches. In 2003, he was nominated and consecrated the first bishop of the newly created missionary

Diocese of Angola The Diocese of Angola ( pt, Diocese Anglicana de Angola) is a diocese of the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola, encompassing the entire country of Angola. It is divided into four archdeaconries (Luanda, Lukunga Lozi (Songo), Nzadi a Lukiki ...

. In 2019, he became the first diocesan bishop when the missionary diocese became an independent diocese. He is a supporter of women's ordination and he believes that it is not an obstacle to ecumenism.

References

External links

Bishop André Soares Personal Testemony (2005)
21st-century Anglican bishops in Africa 1956 births Angolan Anglicans Angolan clergy Living people People from Uíge Province Anglican bishops of Angola {{Africa-Anglican-bishop-stub