The CIA Directorate of Intelligence identifies Liberation Theology as a “contemporary Catholic religious doctrine espoused in the Third World,” with Marxist roots, which is “openly anti-west and identifies the United States as responsible for the exploitation of the Third World.” 1 The document also perceives the threat of Liberation Theology as a target for communist (namely Soviet and Cuban) exploitation, and a catalyst to a dangerous collaboration of certain churches with Marxist revolutionaries, giving legitimacy to guerilla movements, impeding US efforts to contain them. 2 Although the article focuses on Latin American and Pacific examples, it is still relevant to Zaire and identifies Zaire as a place where the Church provides educational and medical services not offered by the government. 3 This report is consistent with the 1973 National Intelligence Survey, which emphasizes the central role of the Church in providing these services where the state falls short. The report identifies churches that assume the role of the government by providing social services as an indicator of Liberation Theology.
If the United States saw the Catholic church in Zaire as a source of Liberation Theology, their evangelizing efforts had an added dimension; not only were they trying to spread Christianity as a defense against communism, they also found protestant Christianity to be an alternative to dangerous anti-western ideas that might come from Catholic churches in Zaire. Whereas Catholicism posed the threat of Liberation Theology and the guerrilla revolts that may come with it, the Protestant churches aligned with Mobutu’s project of cultural nationalism, therefore reinforcing the legitimacy of his US-backed regime.
By observing the US’ outlook on the developments in Protestantism from the perspective of fundamentalist missionaries, who saw the consolidation of Protestant denominations into one common administration as a dangerous theological error which would give liberals too much power, it is easy to get an oversimplified understanding of US religious objectives in Congo. A more accurate view is achieved when considering a disconnect between the ideological arguments of the fundamentalists and the interests of the US government, most importantly in preventing communism and Liberation Theology from taking root in Congo so as to protect their economic interests. Philpot, who cooperated with Makanzu’s African and nationalist requirements for his evangelizing crusade in 1978, is an example of prioritizing the spread of Protestant Christianity as a deterrent to Communism over theological disputes. This interaction demonstrates the ways in which the ECZ’s strong emphasis on cultural nationalism as a way of regaining Congolese identity was an instrumental part of Mobutu’s authenticité campaign, as well as an instrumental factor in protecting US economic interests in the Congo.
“Liberation Theology: Religion, Reform and Revolution,” (21 Apr 1986. CIA FOIA Reading Room, released 2011), 1.
“Liberation Theology: Religion, Reform and Revolution,” iv.
“Liberation Theology: Religion, Reform and Revolution,” 6.
Simon Kimbangu, the founder of Kimbanguism, is thought of by his followers as the second coming of Christ. Kimabngu performed many miracles in the Congo during the twentieth century which he called the work of Jesus Christ. Kimbangu founded and preached a faction of Christianity that impacted the Congo politically and socially. He lived during Belgian colonial rule in Congo and he opposed the colonial government. Through demonstration, he gained a massive following, but was arrested for his actions and put unjustly into prison for the rest of his life. His message to his followers was always one of peace–why did he end up in prison?
The chapter of Exodus in The Bible is a chapter that early Kimbanguists related to on a personal level. The chapter is the account of Moses, leading his fellow Jews out of captivity in Egypt. Simon Kimbangu spoke out against colonial rule and compared it to the Egyptians that held the Jews as slaves in The Bible. This idea was used to promote racial liberation in the Congo and among Kimbangu’s followers. As these comparisons and ideas grew popular with the black community, Kimbangu decided to make it a focal point of his preachings. Racial liberation was a crucial topic for Simon Kimbangu because it allowed his audience to grow immensely, even outside of the religious world. The Congolese felt the Belgian colonial rule oppressed non-Belgians and demanded change. When these citizens would hear Simon Kimbangu’s ministries, his passionate denunciation of the colonial leadership gave them hope and something in common with Kimbangu–religious and non-religious people. Although his message was in opposition to colonial rule, Kimbangu never encouraged violence against the regime. He was referred to as the liberator of the Blacks, but he made it clear that this did not mean he was anti-White. Like any social figure, his message was taken differently by certain people and many of his followers were anti-White who wanted to commit acts of violence against the Belgians.
Simon Kimbangu’s movement grew quickly and gained both positive and negative attention. He was beloved in Congo’s black community, but his works began to draw the focus of the colonizers. They felt that Kimbangu was a rising threat to their power. When he started to become a concern for the Belgian leaders was when his ministries began to have major social impacts. For example, Kimbangu encouraged his followers to abandon the use of the nkisi, these were objects that spirits were thought to inhabit and were used widespread throughout Congo. When Kimbangu’s followers stopped using the nkisi, so did a majority of people in the country. Colonial leaders were worried when they saw that he, by himself, could affect the entire nation. This impact occurred on the social level and was harmless to the country, but Kimbangu began to have political impacts that triggered turmoil within the Congo. His anti-colonial rhetoric opened the eyes of the black population in Congo. He highlighted the inequality and oppression in which they lived and encouraged his followers to good work–work that would better the nation and the world. Kimbangu’s message was intended to bring positive growth for the black population. It was not intended to tear down the already thriving white population, but rather peacefully elevate the black population so they could live in harmony. Being a native Congolese, Kimbangu did obtain the same rights as the colonizers, rights like freedom of speech. It was impacts like this that forced the leaders to pursue Kimbangu and try to bring him down.
It was not just the colonial leadership that were opposed to Simon Kimbangu and his teachings, but the Catholic church as well. Early on in his work, Kimbangu had the support of many Catholic and Protestant leaders and they credited his abilities as the work of Christ. However, their support did not last long. They began to look for flaws and ways to undermine Kimbangu and his work. Pastor Robert Lanyon Jennings was one of Kimbangu’s most notable opposers and he called out Kimbangu for using strictly Baptist hymns at his services. Kimbangu took this as an opportunity to peacefully demonstrate his ability, he proceeded to create the very first Kimbanguist hymn, the first of many. Léon Morel was the Belgian colonial administrator at the time and would eventually be the one to arrest Kimbangu. Morel wanted to see if the stories of Kimbangu’s healing power were true and decided to test it himself. He chose five severely ill people and brought them to Kimbangu where they were healed immediately. It was his good work that led Morel and the colonials to feel the need to eliminate him. Morel saw this incredible power first-hand and saw Kimbangu as a major threat to his control in Congo.
Throughout Kimbangu’s rise in Congo he has been compared to Christ Jesus because of the similarities that Kimbangu showed to the one he worshipped. Both Kimbangu and Jesus healed many people and executed many other miracles–most famously they raised the dead. Another aspect of Kimbangu’s story that relates him to Jesus is how they were received by authority. Jesus was beloved by his followers and they rejoiced in his good work. The Roman leadership feared Jesus and his power and did everything possible to get rid of him. Almost identical with Simon Kimbangu who demonstrated his ability and in turn built a large movement. The Belgian colonial leaders sought to bring him down because they felt he threatened their reign. Kimbanguists strongly believe that their founder was the prophesied, second coming of Christ and these similarities are often used as evidence to support their claims.
Simon Kimbangu preached his ministry during the Belgian colonial rule in Congo. He spoke out against the colonial leadership and often compared the Black struggle to that of the Jews in ancient Egypt. Kimbangu’s ministry encouraged social and political movements in the Congo. His spiritual demonstrations and growing public power made him a target of the colonial authorities, similarly to Christ Jesus. He founded a church and a movement that thrives to this day. His followers believe that he is the second coming Christ and continue to further his legacy and mission long after his passing.
“Ford Philpot,” Asbury University, Wilmore, KY https://www.asbury.edu/academics/resources/library/archives/biographies/ford-philpot/
Garrard, David J. “The Protestant Church in Congo: The Mobutu Years and their Impact.” In Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 43, Fasc. 2 (2013): 131-166. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43303265
“Liberation Theology: Religion, Reform and Revolution.” 21 Apr 1986. CIA FOIA Reading Room (released 2011). https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP97R00694R000600050001-9.pdf
Rich, Jeremy. “Zaire for Jesus: Ford Philpot’s Evangelical Crusades in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1966-1978.” In Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 43, Fasc. 1 (2013): 4-28. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43303256
Rich, Jeremy. “From Jean-Perce Makanzu to Makanzu Mavumilusa: An Evangelical Protestant Leader in Mobutu’s Congo, 1960–1980.” In Journal of Africana Religions, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2016): 76-103. University Park, Penn State University Press, 2016. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/jafrireli.4.1.0076
“Zaire; The Society.” In National Intelligence Survey 60A, (1973): 26-30. CIA FOIA Reading Room (released 2009). https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110005-8.pdf
Audio clip of Ford Philpot preaching a message in chapel at Asbury College in 1961, 4Ford Philpot, Asbury University 5
By listening to this clip of Philpot’s preaching, it is easy to see how his emotional and passionate words could move many to join the evangelist movement in Zaire. This recording is from five years before Philpot’s first crusade in Zaire, and his evangelizing mission to convert non-Christians is already apparent, ending the passionate message with a call to “help the unbeliever submit to Him.”6
This call prefaces Philpot’s history of evangelizing crusades in Zaire in the 1960s and 70s, but the motive for these crusades went deeper than a simple need to spread the gospel. Philpot establishes this in informing a potential donor that “The greatest thwart to Communism in [the DRC] is Christianity.”7 An article in the evangelical magazine Christianity Today echoed this call for US intervention in central Africa to prevent the spread of the red menace, further demonstrating the cold war influence on US Protestant evangelization tours in Africa in the 1960s and ’70s. 8
Makanzu Mavumilusa helped to organize Philpot’s evangelizing crusades in 1966, and 68, after which he praised Philpot as having done more to bring Congolese to Christ than other missionaries had done in years, graciously welcoming him back in 1978.9 However, Makanzu played a very different role in Philpot’s 1978 crusade, fully directing Philpot’s program, as well as requiring that his programming involved a Congolese choir. 10By taking on this dominant role in arranging Philpot’s crusade, he acted as an equal, welcoming Philpot as an honored guest but initiating their interaction as colleagues; Philpot’s crusade would be on Makanzu’s terms. 11This way, Makanzu used Philpot’s crusades to contribute to the evangelization of the Congo outside of a missionary framework, instead operating as a part of an effort to spread a uniquely African brand of Christianity. This in turn contributed to legitimizing Mobutu’s reign because of its nationalist implications, as well as inhibiting the spread of communism.
This cold war dynamic of protecting liberal ideals and western economic interests abroad by interfering to stop the spread of communism figured heavily in both US support for Mobutu’s regime and US evangelizing crusades in Zaire. The influence of Protestantism as an alternative to the Catholic traditions, which historically were more prevalent in Congo, is important to note because it reflects the US’ fear of Liberation Theology, a concept based in Catholic practices that the CIA saw as a precursor to Communism.
Rich, “Zaire for Jesus: Ford Philpot’s Evangelical Crusades in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1966-1978,” in Journal of Religion in Africa, (Vol. 43, Fasc. 1, 2013), 15.
Rich, “Zaire for Jesus: Ford Philpot’s Evangelical Crusades in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1966-1978,” 7.
Rich, Jeremy. “From Jean-Perce Makanzu to Makanzu Mavumilusa: An Evangelical Protestant Leader in Mobutu’s Congo, 1960–1980,” in Journal of Africana Religions, (Vol. 4, No. 1, University Park, Penn State University Press, 2016), 95.
Rich, Jeremy. “From Jean-Perce Makanzu to Makanzu Mavumilusa: An Evangelical Protestant Leader in Mobutu’s Congo, 1960–1980,” 96.
Rich, Jeremy. “From Jean-Perce Makanzu to Makanzu Mavumilusa: An Evangelical Protestant Leader in Mobutu’s Congo, 1960–1980,” 96.
The National Intelligence Survey outlines various religious practices in Zaire, focusing mainly on their interactions with the state and Mobutu’s project of authenticité. It begins with an overview of Catholicism in Zaire, outlining the significance of the welfare services provided which were absent from colonial government, and contribute to stability.11 The Survey notes the recent sharp decline of Catholicism in Congo, demonstrated through the drop in religiously observed marriages, baptisms, and enrollments in seminaries, as well as large scale killings of nuns and priests in the 1964 rebellion.12 The document takes these as signals that the Catholic organization in Congo, in its failure to change to align with Mobutu’s project of Africanization, became associated with the hated colonial administration.13 The Survey then goes on to address Protestantism in Zaire, which in comparison to Catholicism is much more receptive to Mobutu’s authenticité program, largely due to their success in recruiting Zairian priests and clergy compared to Catholic orders.14 It also mentions racial tensions and their role in the conflict over the consolidation of Protestant denominations into one central Church, noting the resistance to this development coming from white American fundamentalists.15 We can see from this document that the CIA’s interest in religious practices in Zaire is primarily around the ways in which different religious organizations interact with Mobutu’s government. They address differences in administrative systems and leadership between Catholics and Protestants, particularly after the formation of the ECZ in 1970; the authoritarian, nationalist system of the ECZ aligning much more closely with Mobutu’s authenticité.
The document primarily discusses which organizations are allowed greater privileges and weight in matters of government authority, how they are seen in the public eye, and what they provide in terms of welfare and education services to their communities. It is interesting to note that US interests almost completely left out of the analysis, only briefly mentioning missionaries, primarily around their expulsion from the country in the Simba revolts, and conservative American missionaries’ resistance to the nationalization of the Protestant Church. They do, however, highlight Mobutu’s personal relationship to the different religions, which could have implications for US interests as the US put him in power and continued to support his regime. This complicates our understanding of the US’ interaction with the ECZ as this religious organization was clearly in Mobutu’s favor as it promoted Congolese cultural nationalism in favor of western missionary control and division.16 However, the transition to the ECZ as a collective church that had a fairly centralized administration and little denominational freedom was widely opposed by US evangelical mission boards. 17
This discrepancy between the US hold on politics in Congo and the Africanization of religious organizations could show that although independence did not rid Congo of western influence in political and economic spheres, US missionary hold on the country was weakened during this period. Although Christianity, introduced by the colonial administration, remained a dominant religion in the region, it became increasingly dominated by African leadership and strayed from foreign missionary control. Ford Philpot’s crusades in Congo in the 1960s and 70s further demonstrate this shift, and reveal the changing nature of the relationship Protestant leaders maintained with foreign patrons.
“Zaire; The Society,” in National Intelligence Survey 60A, 1973, (CIA FOIA Reading Room, released 2009), 27.
“Zaire; The Society,” 27.
“Zaire; The Society,” 27.
“Zaire; The Society,” 28.
“Zaire; The Society,” 28.
Rich, Jeremy. “From Jean-Perce Makanzu to Makanzu Mavumilusa: An Evangelical Protestant Leader in Mobutu’s Congo, 1960–1980,” in Journal of Africana Religions, (Vol. 4, No. 1, University Park, Penn State University Press, 2016), 81.
Rich, Jeremy. “From Jean-Perce Makanzu to Makanzu Mavumilusa: An Evangelical Protestant Leader in Mobutu’s Congo, 1960–1980,” in Journal of Africana Religions, 85.
The 1960s saw a huge amount of political upheaval in Congo, following independence in 1960 and the Simba revolts in 1964 and 1965.13 Not only did this political instability, coupled with dropping copper prices, weaken Congo’s economy, but it had effects in Congo’s religious communities as Mobutu tried to consolidate power by eliminating possible religious threats to his supreme rule.15 Consistent with Mobutu’s nationalist authenticité project, Protestant denominations banded together in 1969 to create one collective Eglise du Christ au Zaire.18 The creation of this unified Church served both to place the Protestant church within the domain of Mobutu’s rule, enforcing a brand of Protestantism that specified the degree to which African traditions were incorporated based on their usefulness to the nationalist program, as well as shifted the Church organization so that it no longer relied on missionary leadership.19
Due to a glaring lack of Congolese sources on the subject in American and British archive databases, I will primarily be investigating the US perspective on the consolidation of Protestant churches, evangelizing missions, and the phasing out of US and European missionary presence in Congo. This is largely shaped by US ties to Mobutu as well as cold war fears of communism spreading to Congo, largely associated with the Simba rebels in 1964.20 Although the rebels only received aid from a small group of Cuban rebels, both US and officials and Protestant missionaries believed their revolt was funded and heavily influenced by Chinese and Soviet communist forces.21 The US saw the possibility of communism in the Congo as a serious threat to their economic interests there and viewed the spread of Protestantism in Congo as an effective way to protect their interests by combating communism as well as legitimizing Mobutu’s regime.
Rich, Jeremy. “From Jean-Perce Makanzu to Makanzu Mavumilusa: An Evangelical Protestant Leader in Mobutu’s Congo, 1960–1980,” in Journal of Africana Religions, (Vol. 4, No. 1, University Park, Penn State University Press, 2016), 80.
Rich, Jeremy, “Zaire for Jesus: Ford Philpot’s Evangelical Crusades in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1966-1978,” in Journal of Religion in Africa, (Vol. 43, Fasc. 1, 2013), 15.
Rich, Jeremy, “Zaire for Jesus: Ford Philpot’s Evangelical Crusades in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1966-1978,” 16.
Rich, Jeremy. “From Jean-Perce Makanzu to Makanzu Mavumilusa: An Evangelical Protestant Leader in Mobutu’s Congo, 1960–1980,” 91, 92.
Rich, Jeremy, “Zaire for Jesus: Ford Philpot’s Evangelical Crusades in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1966-1978,” 8.
Rich, Jeremy, “Zaire for Jesus: Ford Philpot’s Evangelical Crusades in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1966-1978,” 8.
