History 3306: The Spread of Christianity in the Kingdom of Congo

This essay examines the historical development of Christianity in the Kingdom of Congo, focusing on its influence on the region's political and cultural landscape. The author explores the factors that led to the spread of Christianity, including the role of missionaries and the conversion of King Nzinga. The essay discusses the different sects of Christianity present in Congo and their impact on the lives of the people. It also analyzes the relationship between Christianity and the colonial powers, highlighting how the religion provided opportunities for resource extraction and political control. The essay concludes that the spread of Christianity in Congo was a crucial event in the history of the region, which facilitated European influence and control over the African continent. The paper also references the work of scholars like Hastings, Gray, and Thornton to support its arguments.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The purpose of this essay is to highlight upon some issues as a part of history how the
kingdom of Congo became one of the most influential countries enriched by Christian
Catholicism. The situation turned out that British Empire had set its colonies in this part of the
world and it resulted in the spread of Christianity in the kingdom of Congo. The reasons for the
spread of this Christianity in Congo and its impacts on the lives of common people will be
discussed. The impacts have been felt in the culture and politics of Congo as well. These impacts
will be discussed in this paper.
Thesis statement: The spread of Christianity was a very important development in the history
of Congo’s politics and culture.
To begin the discussion, it must be said that many critics have thought of this issue as
very impure and even fatal for the democracy of the country as well. This conversion to
Christianity has been very much superficial. It could have been resulted from the diplomatic
factors as well. Evidently, this religion had been propelled by majority of people within the
country (Hastings, 1998). It has been estimated by the experts of statistics that number of
Christian followers in Congo is more than 60 million. This suggests that more than 90% of
population in the country belong to this Christianity. The spread of the Christianity in this
country could be a considered as a measure stick for its impact on the politics and social affairs
within the country. There are some different sects of Christianity that could be observed in this
country. These are Roman Catholicism, Protestantism and Kimbanguism (Gray, 1999).
In a period of continuous repression over the African people, many of them were kept as
slaves. This was one of the biggest factors because a country like Congo in Africa had to suffer
from slavery. The repression of the slaves went to a very bad condition and the dominance of

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colonizers went from bad to worse (Hastings, 1998). As per the historical records suggest, it can
be said that King Nzinga had converted to Christianity and he urged all the people from Congo
to follow his step. During this time, the local form of the Christianity had been completely
rejected by the people of Congo and they wanted to get converted to the European form of
Christianity. This had been initiated by the Portuguese missionaries during that time. This
conversion could be noted at the end of the nineteenth century. Apart from this, special focus
should have been given on the women of this period. The arrival of women missionaries in this
country had completely jeopardized the recognition of the Capuchin missionaries in the country
(Hastings, 1998). Therefore, the development of some people in African continent regarding
women missionaries could be hard very apparently.
During the beginning of the 19th century, the overall unity of Congo had been destroyed
completely so it has been seen that the people of Congo needed a power who could show them
the way. Therefore, this vacant space had been filled up by the European Catholic missionaries
to the fullest. This is why it was of utmost importance to find out the political facts regarding this
issue. These Catholic missionaries were slowly turning out to be the controllers of faith for the
people of Congo (Hastings, 1998). The chain of events had continued time and again. These
events had even continued when King Sebastian of Portugal had died in the battle of Alcazar-el-
Kabir. This had erased the chances of establishing the Christian powers in the North Africa in the
year 1578 (Thornton, 1984). The historical effects are quite interesting to be noted in this
discourse. Political scenarios arise when the gold of West Africa comes into the context of
discussion (Gray, 1999). The Catholic missionaries had been sent to this place to find out riches
and treasures of different places of African continent. Some historians even said this continent to

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be the Dark Continent but it did have some riches that could be the central point of Christian
dominance.
The Kingdom of Congo was then one of the largest kingdoms in Africa that acquired
around 115,000 square miles of space. Therefore, the chances were very high that it could be
regarded as one of the top destinations for the Portuguese and Spanish dominions to target this
land for the rich treasures (Thornton, 1984). Many things had been traded to the Portuguese
region. These things included slaves, ivory and hides of animals, copper, salt and other products.
Therefore, this region proved to be one of the most resourceful territories in the African region.
According to critics, as people of Congo had been converted to Christianity this gave a huge
opportunity to the colonizers to make it sure that they could gain these resources for their
benefits. They also interfered in the internal politics of this country and grabbed the control from
local people (Thornton, 1984).
When the Carmelite missionaries arrived at Luanda, it gave great opportunities for them
go to Congo and take a statue of Holy Virgin Mary there. The aim for this was to take it out for a
solemn procession at Mbanza Congo (Thornton, 1984). This is the way these Europeans earned
the trust and respect of these people in Congo. The various Biblical doctrines of Europe could be
converted to their local language and words like spirit, God and Holy could be converted into
their local diction. Therefore, the control over society and politics was immense by Europeans.
In the concluding section, it can be said that the conversion and spread of Catholic
Christianity to North Africa through Congo had been one of the biggest factors for the spreading
of Christianity in that region. It must also be highlighted that the people of Congo began to
believe in the power of European Catholicism and this paved the way for European powers to

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gain control over there. Evidently this was marked as just the beginning of the gaining control on
African surface.

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Reference List
Gray, R. (1999). A Kongo princess, the Kongo ambassadors and the Papacy. Journal of Religion
in Africa, 29(Fasc. 2), 140-154.
Hastings, A. (1998). The Christianity of Pedro Iv of the Kongo,'the Pacific'(1695-1718). Journal
of religion in Africa, 28(Fasc. 2), 145-159.
Thornton, J. (1984). The development of an African Catholic church in the Kingdom of Kongo,
1491–1750. The Journal of African History, 25(2), 147-167.