Christianity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Christianity is the majority religion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is professed by a majority of the population.
According to the 2020 Report on International Religious Freedom, an estimated 48.1% of the population are
History
The history of Christianity in the area of the modern-day Congo is closely linked to the history of
The earliest evidence for the adoption of
The largest expansion of Christianity occurred under
In the post-independence period, distrust between the Churches and the state grew, exacerbated in the early 1970s by attempts by the new Zairean government to secularise education.[5] Since 2014, sporadic outbreaks of violence against Christians have occurred in North Kivu as part of the ongoing Kivu conflict. Massacres of approximately 645 people have been perpetrated by the Islamist Allied Democratic Forces rebel group which has been largely forced out of neighbouring Uganda.[6]
By denomination
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Catholicism
For much of the colonial period, Catholic missions received preferential treatment and a subsidy from the state denied to missions from other denominations.[7]
In 2016, the
Protestantism
The first Protestant mission in the Congo was sent by the British Baptist Missionary Society and arrived in 1878, shortly before the creation of the Congo Free State.[11] Throughout the colonial period, Protestant missions maintained a difficult relationship with the colonial authorities. Most Belgian officials were Catholics and distrusted Protestant missionaries, which were often foreigners from the United Kingdom or the United States, but were unable to expel them under the terms of the Berlin Conference.[12]
In 2016, it was estimated that 20 percent of the Congo's population were Protestant, excluding Kimbanguists.[8] The Pew Center provides a considerably higher estimate the number of Protestants (including Kimbanguists) at nearly 32 million or 48 percent of the population, representing 4 percent of the world's Protestants.[9] By 2020 the estimate was 48.1%.[13]
Kimbanguism
Kimbanguism, officially the Church of Jesus Christ on Earth by His Special Envoy Simon Kimbangu, is a major
Others
The Pew Center estimates the Congo's population of "Other Christians" at 260,000.
Freedom of Religion
In 2023, DRC was scored as 3 out of 4 for religious freedom.[14]
In the same year, it was ranked as the 37th worst country to be a Christian. This was mainly due to ADF and other terrorist activity.[15]
See also
References
- Kongo Kingdom was located on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa in parts of modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, and Angola.
- ^ "US State Dept 2020 report: DRC, International Religious Freedom" (PDF). United States Department of State.
- ^ Ross, Emma George. "African Christianity in Kongo". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- ^ a b Boyle 1995, p. 453.
- ^ Boyle 1995, p. 458.
- ^ Boyle 1995, p. 467.
- ^ "Villages 'obliterated' as Christian persecution grows in eastern Congo". The Catholic Herald. 19 Aug 2016. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- ^ Markowitz 1970, pp. 236–7.
- ^ a b c "Congo, Democratic Republic of the (People and Society)". CIA World Fact Book. 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Global Christianity". Pew Research Centre. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- ^ "US State Dept 2020 report: DRC, International Religious Freedom" (PDF). United States Department of State.
- ^ Markowitz 1970, p. 234.
- ^ Markowitz 1970, pp. 234–6.
- ^ "US State Dept 2020 report: DRC, International Religious Freedom" (PDF). United States Department of State.
- ^ Freedom House website, retrieved 2023-08-01
- ^ Open Doors website, retrieved 2023-08-01
Bibliography
- Boyle, Patrick M. (1995). "School Wars: Church, State, and the Death of the Congo". Journal of Modern African Studies. 33 (3): 451–68. JSTOR 161485.
- Markowitz, Marvin D. (1970). "The Missions and Political Development in the Congo". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 40 (3): 234–47. JSTOR 1158884.
Further reading
- Markowitz, Marvin D. (1973). Cross and Sword: the political role of Christian missions in the Belgian Congo, 1908-1960. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press. ISBN 9780817911416.