CONGO
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CONGO
Tongerloo (pref. Ap., Rev. M. L. Derikx) and a vicari-
ate Apostolic: Stanley Falls, founded as a prefecture
3 Aug., 1904, Priests of the Sacred Heart (vie. Ap., Rev.
G. Grison). There are other missionaries ui the Belgian
vicariate who, though having no autonomous territory,
nevertheless render very important service in the evan-
gelization of the country. Among these are the Trap-
pists and the Redemptorists. The former went from
the Abbey of Westmalle in 1S94, hoping to acquu-e in
Africa, by the foundation of agricultural colonies, a civ-
ilizing influence similar to that of the medieval Benedic-
tines. Their first efforts in the Lower Congo were
fruitless; later they established themselves in the
Upper Congo beyond the confluence of the Congo and
the Ruki, almost on the Equator. Their principal
post is at Bamania. The Redemptorists have suc-
ceeded the secular priests at Matadi in the evangeliza-
tion of the town and of the railway employees. In
1905-06 the Mill Hill Missionaries (English) accepted
two posts in the Upper Congo. The Vicariate Apos-
tolic of Sudan, administered by the White Fathers,
has under its jurisdiction a portion of the Congo State;
vicar Apostolic, Mgr. H. L. Bazin. In May, 1907, the
Fathers of the Holy Ghost were engaged as chaplains
to the second railway section of the Great Lakes. —
The numerous sisters of various religious institutes
who have devoted their fortunes and their lives to the
moral and religious education of the Congolese women
do an amount of good beyond all praise. The Sis-
ters of Charity of Jesus and Mary (Ghent Institute)
were the first to enter on this arduous mission. They
are found in the districts evangelized by the Fathers
of Scheutveld and are assisted by the Franciscan Sis-
ters, from Gooreind, Antwerp province. The Mis-
sionary Sisters of the Precious Blood (Natal, Holland)
are employed in the missions of the Trappist Fathers.
The Congregation of Our Lady of Africa (White Sis-
ters) devote themselves to the natives in the Vicariate
of Upper Congo. In the Prefecture of Kwango the
Notre Dame Sisters (Namur) are established; in
Welle the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary (Berlaer-
lez-Lierre). For statistics see below the table of
Catholic missions.
German East Africa. — The German possessions oc- cupy but a very small part of the Congo Basin. There are three vicariates in charge of the White Fathers: South Nyanza under Mgr. J. J. Hirth; LTnymuezi under Mgr. F. Gerboin; and Tanganyika under Mgr. A. Le Chaptois. In addition there is the Vicariate of Central Zanzibar, in charge of the Fathers of the Holy Ghost, under Mgr. F. X. Vogt. Finally, the Vicariate of South Zanzibar, or Dar es Salaam, in charge of the Bavarian Congregation of St. Odile under Mgr. T. Spreiter.
Non-Catholic Missions. — There are very few of these in the French Congo. We may mention the two missions of Ogowe, formerly held by the Ameri- can Presbyterians, and now by the Paris Evangelical Missions. Quite recently a Swedish mission has been established in Loango. In Portuguese Congo the Methodists have nine missions. Six missionary socie- ties devote themselves to the evangelization of Ger- man East Africa, viz.: the Evangelical Missionary Society for German East Africa, the Pagan Mission- ary Society, the Community of Brothers, and the Evangelical Missionary Society of Leipzig; and two English, viz.: the Universities Mission to Central Africa and the Church Missionary Society. In the Congo Independent State there are many Protestant missions. The longest established is "the English Baptist Missionary Society, Lower Congo (1877). In 1879 followed the Livingstone Inland Mission; Luth- eran Svcnska or Swedisli Mi.ssion (1881); American Baptist Missionary Union (ISS.'^); Bishop Taylor's Self-Supporting Mission (1880); Congo Balolo Mission (1889); International Missionary Alliance (1889); American Southern I'resbyterian Mission (1891);
Arnot Scotch Presbyterian Mission (1891); Seventh
Day Baptists (1893). In 1897 there were 56 stations
with 221 mission workers of both sexes.
The Nalines. — The irreligion and ignorance of the Congolese have often been exaggerated and misrepre- sented. They are not so debased as many pretend. They recognize a supreme God, Creator of all things, but they seem very largely to ignore His umnediate Providence and His intervention in the affairs of this world. They beheve in the existence of spirits, and admit a metempsychosis more or less happy in a future life. Their worship is a species of gross fetish- ism, propagated by the sorcerers, whose influence is very great and often most pernicious. These sorcer- ers are the "wise men" of Congo; they are consulted about everything. If misfortune comes or crime is committed, it is to them that recourse must be had, and whoever is designated by them as the cause of the evil must pass through the test of fire or of casque (poisoned drink). The State forbids such tests under most severe penalties. Superstitious fears and slavish attachment to amulets are the chief obstacles to con- version. Others are the practice of polygamy, largely due to the custom which prevents the wife from hav- ing any relations with her husband during the period of lactation — from two to three years — lest she should make her child unhappy; the cannibalism which exists in certain parts; ingrained habits of idleness; gross egoism; the worship of might as con- founded with right — in short that sum of differences which separates, as by an abyss, the essentially pagan soul of the Congolese from the Christian conception of right and wrong which the missioners try to impart. The excesses and the evil example of the Europeans themselves render the missionary's task even more difficult. Add to this the abuse which, in districts where the rubber trade flour- ishes or in the neighbourhood of towns, imposes a hard task of from fifteen to twenty days per month of forced labour instead of the forty hours fixed by the law; the unfortunate divisions between the Christian churches and the acts of petty opposition consequent thereon — and the problem is still further complicated. Nor is all ended when the Congolese is converted; he must be continually urged to hold fast to the gift he has received, for his fickleness is very great. Often he imagines that his obligation to remain a Christian ceases with the contract which binds him to a mission or to the service of Europeans. In the eastern part of Upper Congo the Arabs, who frequently make slave raids, have managed to win over to their religion many of the intelligent tribes of the Bakusus. These pros- elytes regard all their workmen as slaves for life; they are immoral, fanatic, and very hostile to the Gospel.
The noble work of evangelization in the Congo, however, is far from being fruitless. As formerly under the Portuguese rule, so to-day the missionaries find souls in which their teaching takes firm root. Mgr. Augouard gives the example of a catechist of the tribe of Babois who, seeing the resources of the mission failing, undertook to feed and clothe the chil- dren of his school with the profits of his sewing- machine. The most intelligent part of the popula- tion inhabits the Domaine de la Couronne and is well disposed towards Cliristianity. Until 1908 these people were .-shut off from all immediate missionary influence; they were evangelized, however, by some of their coiuitrymen who had become Christians while serving in the army. Many travelled long ilistances to see and speak with the Catholic missionaries, and both men and women, nothing daunted, vmdertook perilous journeys in order to reach the mission sta- tions. It is not surprising, therefore, that the mis- sionaries have been received everywhere with enthu- siasm, and that the natives have offered to build their simple habitations and .schools.
The Mdiimr oj Evdngelizing. — Guided by experi-
