By Provincial Instructions, dated March 30 of that year, issued by Governor General Acácio Adrião da Silveira Pinto, instructing Major Ferreira Horta to"build a temple of sufficient size to house" not only all the inhabitants of the colony, but also the neighboring indigenous people , who came to the village to attend religious acts, or who met there on holy days".

With a simple religious architecture, in late Baroque, where the usual symmetrical composition dominates, expressed in the facade, the Parish Church of Santo Adrião de Moçâmedes has nothing to do with other towered churches, in which the tower often appears in a central position, in the tradition of some French Gothic, with expressive marking of vertical lines and systematic application of the pointed arch.
In late Baroque style with its frontispiece and the usual four pilasters, entablature and two towers, between which is inserted a central triangular pediment with a circular glazed oculus in the center, on which the stone cross stands.

We then lived in a predominantly secularized context in the urbanization of the 19th century, in which there was little public investment with regard to religious issues, compared to the previous era.
It is known that the construction of a temple was one of Bernardino's demands from the Government, even while in Brazil, it is also known that a priest was not found to accompany the settlers on their trip to Moçâmedes, and that upon arrival in Moçâmedes in 04 of August 1849, in a chronicle of November 2, 1849: "It is very urgent to see it completed, as it could not fail to scandalize any Catholic traveler, that a society as numerous as that of Moçâmedes is today, does not have a house of prayer, where they gather to give thanks to the Almighty and ask for the assistance that each one needs."

The works on the church and the parish priest's house are so far advanced, despite the few workers and resources, that with three more months of work they would be ready. What remains to be done is limited only to covering the entire work with fine lime, some wooden ornaments in the main chapel, the two side altars, and, finally, the balustrades for the church's warren and choir. br> "In a report by Fernando Leal dated December 31, 1854, one can read: effectively, in the Provincial Instructions, dated March 30, 1849, that Governor-General Acácio Adrião da Silveira Pinto had commissioned Major Ferreira Horta to build a temple of sufficient size to house "not only all the inhabitants of the colony, but also the neighboring indigenous people, who came to the village to attend religious acts, or who met there on holy days".

In fact, the works began on March 30, 1849, and when the colony arrived in Moçâmedes, on August 4 of that year, the walls of the future Church of Santo Adrião had already begun, but were not continued.
It was Bernardino who, when he left for Luanda on August 16th of the same year, took measures in this regard.
There are those who are of the opinion that this would have been the first issue to be addressed by Bernardino in Luanda, the taking of measures to ensure that there was no lack of religious assistance for the settlers.

The truth is that fifteen days later, and on September 27th, a Note from the Government of the Bishopric was published ordering the parish priest of Benguela to go to Moçâmedes "to administer sacraments of necessity, and marriage"