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

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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 Songo may refer to: * Songo music, a type of contemporary Cuban music originating in Havana * Songo people, of northern Angola * Songo-salsa, a style of music that blends Spanish rapping and hip hop beats with salsa music and songo * Songo.mn, an ...

, and educated at the Pastoral Institute in Lukala,

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

an Anglican priest in 1984 and began working in

Uíge Province Uíge (pronunciation: ; ) 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 Kongo Ki ...

. In 1992 he became the Episcopal Delegate for

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. 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. 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 Testimony (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