Roman Catholic Church in the Republic of the Congo
The Roman Catholic Church in the Republic of the Congo is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church .
It is organized into three archdiocese and six suffragan dioceses .
The Holy See is represented by the Apostolic Nuncio , Archbishop Francisco Escalante Molina .
history
In 1482 Portuguese missionaries began to Christianize the local population. Through the padroado system, their work was subordinate to the Portuguese crown, which at times had little interest in a more in-depth mission. In 1886 the Roman Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith sent French Spiritans to the Congo and established the Apostolic Vicariate of the French Congo . In 1955 this vicariate was elevated to the Archdiocese of Brazzaville , as was the Diocese of Pointe-Noire (Apostolic Vicariate since 1890). In the last 20 years of the 20th century additional dioceses were established. The first local bishop was Théophile Mbemba , who also attended the Second Vatican Council . In May 2020, Pope Francis divided the ecclesiastical province of Brazzaville, which until then had covered the entire country, by establishing the ecclesiastical provinces of Pointe-Noire and Owando.
See also
literature
- Wolfgang Hoffmann: Congo, Republic . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 6 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1997, Sp. 246 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ erezione della Provincia di Ecclesiastica Pointe-Noire (Repubblica del Congo) e nomina del primo Arcivescovo Metropolita. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , May 30, 2020, accessed May 30, 2020 (Italian).
- ↑ erezione della Provincia di Ecclesiastica Owando (Repubblica del Congo) e nomina del primo Arcivescovo Metropolita. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, May 30, 2020, accessed May 30, 2020 (Italian).