The Catholic Church arrived in the Kingdom of Kongo shortly after the first Portuguese explorers reached its shores in 1483. Portuguese left several of their own number and kidnapped a group of Kongo including at least one nobleman, Kala ka Mfusu, taking them to Portugal where they stayed a year, learned Portuguese and were converted to Christianity. The group was returned to Kongo in 1485 and Kala ka Mfusu led a royal mission from Kongo's manikongo, Nzinga a Nkuwu to Portugal. Following their arrival in late 1486 the embassy stayed nearly four years in Lisbon with the monks of Saint John the Baptist. There they studied Christianity and Portuguese with Vicente dos Anjos (who also learned to speak Kikongo), and began the start of a Kongolese version of Christianity.
The mission returned to Kongo in early 1491, although Kala ka Mfusu died on the return trip. The provincial ruler of Soyo on the Atlantic coast received them and was the first to be baptized. They moved to the royal capital in April and May and Manikongo Nzinga a Nkuwu was baptized on 3 May 1491, taking the name João in honor of the Portuguese king, (João II). Many of his officials and nobles were subsequently baptized. While initially reluctant to allow the baptism of women, his wife, Nzinga a Nlaza, protested and eventually won him over; she was subsequently baptized as Queen Leonor of Kongo and became a champion of the church, paying expenses from her own income.
Further missionaries arrived at the court of Nzinga a Nkuwu, beginning in 1508 and a good number also accompanied his son Afonso Mvemba a Nzinga to his provincial post of Nsundi. Afonso, in turn became a great champion of the faith, even though, according to Afonso's subsequent account of the events, his father cooled in the faith and many of the Kongolese who had been baptized turned away.
and 26 Related for: Catholic Church in Kongo information
The CatholicChurch arrived in the Kingdom of Kongo shortly after the first Portuguese explorers reached its shores in 1483. Portuguese left several of...
for his vigorous attempt to convert Kongo to a Catholic country, by establishing the Roman CatholicChurchinKongo, providing for its financing from tax...
Kingdom of Kongo (Kongo: Kongo dya Ntotila or Wene wa Kongo; Portuguese: Reino do Congo) was a kingdom in Central Africa. It was located in present-day...
syncretic Bakongo Catholic movement formed in the Kingdom of Kongo between 1704 and 1708, as a development out of the CatholicChurchinKongo, yet without...
The Kongo people (Kongo: Bisi Kongo, EsiKongo, singular: Musi Kongo; also Bakongo, singular: Mukongo or M'kongo) are a Bantu ethnic group primarily defined...
the Roman CatholicChurchinKongo, Diogo hoped to extend it throughout the rural areas and also into neighboring countries. After his death in 1561, he...
Congo; Kongo: kulumbimbi) is an old Catholicchurch built at the end of the 15th century in M'banza-Kongo, the capital of the Kingdom of Kongo. It was...
ranches, stores, and artisans' shops. For earlier history see CatholicChurchinKongo. The church's penetration of the country at large is a product of the...
syncretic Bakongo Catholic movement formed in the Kingdom of Kongo between 1704 and 1708 as a development out of the Roman CatholicChurchinKongo, yet without...
status of the Kongo Kingdom in the eyes of European states. Afonso I (r. 1506–43) even travelled to Europe where he studied religion. The Kongo Kingdom adopted...
The Kongo Civil War (1665–1709) was a war of succession between rival houses of the Kingdom of Kongo. The war waged throughout the middle of the 17th and...
Dominicans identify themselves as Catholic. The most professed denomination by far is Catholicism The CatholicChurchin the Dominican Republic has formed...
treatment to the CatholicChurch, in the form of stipends for clergy and financial support to churches and religious schools. The CatholicChurch also retains...
viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Churchin the Patristic Period. He was raised by a Catholic Mother, Monica, but joined the...
Afonso for short, ruled the Kingdom of Kongo from 23 January 1641 to 1661. He is sometimes considered Kongo's greatest king for his religious piety and...
of the rulers of the Kingdom of Kongo known commonly as the Manikongos (KiKongo: Mwenekongo). Mwene (plural: Awene) in Kikongo meant a person holding authority...
Bulgaria (ruled in 1072) Peter III of Aragon (1239–1285) Peter III of Arborea (died 1347) Peter III Aaron (died 1467) Pedro III of Kongo (ruler in 1669) Peter...
in his time. By stressing the Christian nature of the old kingdom, he hoped to increase the attachment of Kongo parishioners to the CatholicChurch as...
of Kongo, the hegemonic state of a number of other Kikongo-speaking kingdoms that flourished in and after the 14th century. The Kingdom of Kongo became...
ISBN 9781107024090. John Thornton, "The Development of an African CatholicChurchin the Kingdom of Kongo, 1491-1750," Journal of African History MacGaffey, Wyatt...
communion in the world, after the CatholicChurch and the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the world's largest Protestant communion. These provinces are in full...
African-American people, beliefs, and practices in the CatholicChurch. There are currently around three million Black Catholicsin the United States, making up 6% of...
translation in John Ogilby, Africa (London, 1670), p. 514). John Thornton, "The Development of an African CatholicChurchin the Kingdom of Kongo, 1491-1750...
Global Information