Mbanza Kongo- The minister of State for the Social Sector Carolina Cerqueira Friday in Mbanza Kongo, northern Zaire province, described Dom Emanuel António Nsaku Nvunda as the forerunner of the relations between Angola and the Vatican State.
Carolina Cerqueira remembered Nsaku Nvunda, who died at the age of 33, as a noble man, politician, diplomat and intellectual of great wisdom.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the bust of this diplomat, the official said that "Negrita" is the architect of the current good relations between the Angolan government and the Catholic Church, forged over five centuries of evangelisation and sealed with the agreement signed on July 8, 1997.
She recalled that this prince of Kongo was buried with state honours in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, in Rome, by order of Pope Paul IV.
First African ambassador to the south of the Sahara at the Vatican, representing the Kingdom of Kongo, “Negrita” arrived in Rome in 1608, already dying, as a result of various adventures experienced during the trip by caravel that lasted four years.
According to the minister, the relationship with the Holy See is characterised by mutual respect, understanding, cordiality and cooperation in various fields, as part of agreement signed recently with the Vatican State.
Carolina Cerqueira highlighted the inauguration of the bust in Mbanza Kongo, stressing that it also serves to honour this historical figure from Angola and Africa, aiming to recover his memory.
“This ceremony represents a national tribute to one of the most outstanding historical figures of the Angolan Nation, with a view to recovering his memory”, she stressed.
This project, she said, responds to a concern of the Angolan head of State, João Lourenço, aimed to honour the unavoidable figure of Dom António Manuel “Negrita” so that his name is perpetuated in the historic city that saw him born precisely 446 years ago.
The minister stressed that the tribute to Nsaku Nvunda is the recognition of cultural diversity in the context of Angola, which is based on elements forged over generations and that give meaning to the collective identity, from whose shared memories the Angolan nation rises.
On the occasion, she appealed to the Angolan youth to get to know and deepen their knowledge of historical facts represented in places of memory in this city that she considered necessary for the maintenance of the country's history and contemporary reality.
To her, the fact that Mbanza Kongo is the center of the expansion of Christianity in Central and West Africa and a reference within the framework of international diplomacy, the bust adds a value that will arouse the interest of tourists and scholars.
Dom António Manuel Nsaku Nvunda, as she said, was also the second non-European ambassador to the Vatican.
The ceremony was witnessed by the provincial governor, Pedro Makita Armando Júlia, the minister of Culture, Tourism and Environment, Filipe Nzau, the bishop of the diocese of Mbanza Kongo, Dom Afonso Vicente Kiazikua, the secretary of State for Culture, Maria da Piedade de Jesus.
The bust which honours Dom Nsaku Nvunda was erected in the square named after him, in the center of Mbanza Kongo, capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo and current Cultural Heritage of Humanity, since 8 July 2017.
