New English Branch Formed in Cape Verde

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to grow in Cape Verde and meet the needs of the people.

Cape Verde — officially the Republic of Cabo Verde — is a country of 10 volcanic islands and five islets in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa. The country’s official language is Portuguese.

On Sunday, January 25, the first English-speaking branch of the Church in Cape Verde was created in the capital city of Praia, at the Praia Cape Verde Stake Center.

The new unit is called the Praia 6th Branch (English), and President Itodo I. Augustine has been called as the branch president.

Praia Cape Verde Stake President Leonel da Cruz said there has been a need to create a foreign language unit in the stake to accommodate many immigrants arriving in Cape Verde from Ghana, Nigeria, Libya and other countries on the African continent. Creating an English branch would allow for one main language to be spoken.

“This branch will help a lot and will progress quickly,” President da Cruz wrote to the Church News. “This branch will bring great dynamics to the members, because they will also be able to have the opportunity to participate and express themselves in English, since all the material of this branch will be all in English, so it will be an added value and even for our young people.”

About the Church in Cape Verde

Beginning in the late-1980s, many Cape Verdean Saints were baptized in Portugal before returning to their homeland, where they began building the Church in Cape Verde, explains the Church’s global histories. Missionaries arrived in March 1989, and in June of that year, the Praia Branch was organized.

The Republic of Cape Verde was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel on September 14, 1994, by Church President Dallin H. Oaks, while he was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. At that time, he invoked blessings upon the missionaries who labor in Cape Verde, as well as prayed for the leaders of the country “and for all who seek to serve thy people here that they may be blessed in their efforts to bless the people.”

The latest statistics from ChurchofJesusChrist.org show more than 16,000 members of the Church in four stakes across the islands. While the country is off the coast of Africa, it is part of the Church’s Europe North Area.

The Praia Cape Verde Temple was dedicated on June 19, 2022, by Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The country has the Cape Verde Praia Mission, where the current first counselor in the Young Men General Presidency, Brother David J. Wunderli, served as the mission president from 2020-2023. A new mission — the Cape Verde Mindelo Mission — will be created on July 1, 2026.