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Abstract
This article examines the relationships between the Belgian colonial administration, Catholic missionaries, and local African leaders during the early twentieth century in eastern Congo. The article extends the argument that the state was weak by outlining how Belgian rule was shaped by local elites in the first instance. This study also reconsiders the misconception of an all-powerful Catholic Church that grew up in this period. This misunderstanding arose from works by historians that drew more on metropolitan agreements and missionaries’ self-promotion than on local archives. Instead, this article is one of the first studies to use the local archives. It examines the experiences of two Latin missions in the territory of Kongolo, in northern Katanga; the Society of Missionaries of Africa (SMA) and the Holy Ghost Fathers (HGF) and their relationships with local polities. A concordat Leopold II signed with Rome in 1906 may have sped the growth of Catholic out-stations, but both sets of missionaries struggled to expand their congregations in the face of opposition from traditional elites and the pervasive influence of the rural economy. Leaders of the SMA and HGF congregations lacked the personnel and resources needed to impose their agendas in full. The limits of Church and state control in conjunction with the power wielded by local big-men in their dealings with European priests have been greatly understated in the recent literature.
Acknowledgements
This paper is drawn largely from my PhD thesis. I would like to thank David Maxwell for his supervision and the ESRC for funding the project. I would also like to thank Ambreena Manji, Kate Skinner and the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions. I am grateful to Ian Bell for proofreading the manuscript for me. I take responsibility for any errors.
Notes
1. Northrup, “A Church in Search of a State,” 319.
2. Leonardi, “Violence, Sacrifice, and Chiefship in Central Equatoria”; Vansina, Being Colonized.
3. Northrup, Beyond the Bend in the River.
4. A recent example is: Nzongola-Ntalaja, The Congo from Leopold to Kabila.
5. Some scholars, such as Bogumil Jewsiewicki, are more subtle than others, see: Jewsiewicki, “Political Consciousness among African Peasants in the Belgian Congo,” 23–32.
6. A recent example of such scholarship is: Sizaire, Dibwe Dia Mwembu, and Jewsiewicki, Femmes, Mode, Musique.
7. Vansina, Being Colonized.
8. Jewsiewicki, “Belgian Africa,” 459.
9. Northrup, “A Church in Search of a State,” 319.
10. The Congregation of the Holy Ghost and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or the Holy Ghost Fathers, are known as “Spiritans” on the European continent and are increasingly being referred to as such in the United Kingdom.
11. Northrup, Beyond the Bend in the River, 37.
12. CitationVan Rode was the Vice-Governor-General of the CFS. He issued a circular that reinforced chieftainships as the main Belgian policy in the hinterland, see: Van Rode, “Circulaire du 16 aout 1906,” 395–9.
13. Morel, A Memorial on Native Rights. These atrocities have also been highlighted in Hochschild, King Leopold's Ghost.
14. Morel, A Memorial on Native Rights, 36.
15. Northrup, Beyond the Bend in the River, 37.
16. Chanock, Law, Custom, and Social Order, 20.
17. Chanock, Law, Custom, and Social Order
18. Iliffe, A Modern History of Tanganyika, 318.
19. Iliffe, A Modern History of Tanganyika
20. Chanock, Law, Custom, and Social Order, 20.
21. Coussement, Historique de la Chefferie des Kalonda, 1.
22. Coussement, Historique de la Chefferie des Kalonda
23. Maemans, Historique de la Chefferie des Kalonda, 2.
24. Vansina, Paths in the Rainforests, 242.
25. Maemans, Historique de la Chefferie des Kalonda, 2. “Mwana” means “King” in Swahili.
26. Maemans, Historique de la Chefferie des Kalonda
27. CitationCommissaire de district du Tanganika-Möero au Vice-Gouverneur Général du Katanga, Johann Maximilien Kesler, 1.
28. CitationCommissaire de district du Tanganika-Möero au Vice-Gouverneur Général du Katanga, Johann Maximilien Kesler
29. CitationCommissaire de district du Tanganika-Möero au Vice-Gouverneur Général du Katanga, Johann Maximilien Kesler, 2.
30. CitationCommissaire de district du Tanganika-Möero au Vice-Gouverneur Général du Katanga, Johann Maximilien Kesler The Luba in this article refers to the Luba-Katanga as opposed to the Luba-Kasai who speak a different language.
31. Reefe, The Rainbow and the Kings, 131. “Buki” means “elastic” in Luba and implied that the chief was impossible to knock down.
32. Reefe, The Rainbow and the Kings
33. Commissaire de district du Tanganika-Möero au Vice-Gouverneur Général du Katanga, Johann Maximilien Kesler, 2.
34. Coussement, Copie: Expose de l'Affaire, 1; Commissaire de district du Tanganika-Möero au Vice-Gouverneur Général du Katanga, Johann Maximilien Kesler.
35. Coussement, Copie: Expose de l'Affaire, 1.
36. CitationDemeulemeester, François Ami Grasset, 1.
37. CitationDemeulemeester, François Ami Grasset
38. CitationDemeulemeester, François Ami Grasset, 2.
39. Peemans, “Capital Accumulation in the Congo,” 188.
40. Jewsiewicki, “Belgian Africa,” 462. This was a particular worry as the Congo took on more debt than other African colonies at the time.
41. Jewsiewicki, “Belgian Africa,” 462. This was a particular worry as the Congo took on more debt than other African colonies at the time., 463.
42. Peemans, “Capital Accumulation in the Congo,” 187.
43. Peemans, “Capital Accumulation in the Congo,”, 188.
44. Secrétariat-Général – Personnel, Jean Baptiste Coussement, 1.
45. Northrup, Beyond the Bend in the River, 39.
46. Secrétariat-Général – Personnel, Jean Baptiste Coussement, 1.
47. Delcommune, Vingt Années de Vie Africaine.
48. Delcommune, Vingt Années de Vie Africaine, 469.
49. Delcommune, Vingt Années de Vie Africaine, 472.
50. Sundkler and Steed, A History of the Church in Africa, 295.**
51. Koren, The Spiritans, 272.
52. Koren, The Spiritans, 551.
53. Koren, The Spiritans
54. Sundkler and Steed, A History of the Church in Africa, 294.
55. CitationWauters, “Les Missions Catholiques au Congo Belge,” 608.
56. CitationWauters, “Les Missions Catholiques au Congo Belge,”, 609; Koren, The Spiritans, 556.
57. Sundkler and Steed, A History of the Church in Africa, 295. The Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide) changed its name to the Congregazione per l'Evangelizzione dei Popoli (Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples) in 1982.
58. Mission du Sacre Cæur de Marie de Kongolo (hereafter Kongolo), Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918, 2.
59. Maxwell, “Christianity,” 2.
60. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918, 2.
61. CitationWauters. “P. S. Récapitulation,” 187–9.
62. Kongolo, 1909–1959, 1.
63. Kongolo, 1909–1959
64. CitationBrabant, “Ecole des Missions,” 1–3.
65. CitationBrabant, “Ecole des Missions,”
66. Braine-L'alleud St Joseph, 7J1.3a2, 4.
67. Braine-L'alleud St Joseph, 7J1.3a2
68. Braine-L'alleud St Joseph, 7J1.3a2, 4–5.
69. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918, 2.
70. Kongolo, 1909–1959, 1.
71. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918, 2; Kongolo, 1909–1959, 1. Misalwe is the capital of the chieftainship of Bayashi and is located just outside Kongolo town centre.
72. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918, 2.
73. Kongolo, 1909–1959, 1.
74. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918, 2–3.
75. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918, 3; Kongolo, 1909–1959, 1.
76. Kongolo, 1909–1959, 1.
77. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918, 3.
78. CitationAnnales Apostolique, “Deux Chefs Indigenes Baptises au Moment du Mourir.”
79. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918, 3.
80. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918
81. Kongolo, 1909–1959, 2.
82. There was also a significant Bakusu (Kusu) minority in the area inhabited by the Bena Lubunda.
83. Markowitz, Cross and Sword, 52.
84. Kongolo, 1909–1959, 2; CitationEcoles Rurales de la Mission de Lubunda.
85. Kongolo, 1909–1959, 3.
86. Le Messanger du Saint-Esprit, 195.
87. Le Messanger du Saint-Esprit, 190.
88. Les Filles de la Croix en partance pour Lubunda, 1912. Mixed race children were the offspring of colonial officials and Africans. Their European fathers were often ashamed of them and so little information on their genealogies is available.
89. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918, 8.
90. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918
91. Kongolo, Journal du mai 1909 au 5 juillet 1918
92. Kongolo, 1909–1959, 3.
93. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1910–1911, 155.
94. Shorter, Victor Roelens, 1856–1947.
95. “Gustave Motte,” Petit Echo, 132.
96. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1910–1911, 155–6.
97. “Auguste Van Acker,” Petit Echo, 48.
98. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1910–1911, 156.
99. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1910–1911, 159.
100. Shorter, Victor Roelens, 1856–1947.
101. Shorter, Victor Roelens, 1856–1947
102. Sundkler and Steed, A History of the Church in Africa, 602.
103. Shorter, Victor Roelens, 1856–1947.
104. Shorter, Victor Roelens, 1856–1947 The “Swahili” are referred to as “Arabs” in the SMA annual reports.
105. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1912–1913, 575.
106. Maxwell, “Christianity,” 9.
107. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1912–1913, 575.
108. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1911–1912, 551.
109. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1911–1912, 552.
110. CitationZvobgo, A History of Christian Missions in Zimbabwe, 160.
111. Heremans, l’Éducation dans les Missions des Pères Blancs, 403.
112. Sundkler and Steed, A History of the Church in Africa, 603.
113. Sundkler and Steed, A History of the Church in Africa
114. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1910–1911, 159.
115. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1910–1911
116. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1910–1911
117. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1911–1912, 551.
118. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1911–1912, 551–2.
119. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1911–1912, 552.
120. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1911–1912, 290.
121. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1911–1912, 552.
122. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1911–1912
123. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1911–1912, 575.
124. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1912–1913, 574.
125. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1914–1915, 290.
126. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1914–1915
127. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1916–1917, 107.
128. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1912–1913, 575.
129. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1914–1915, 270.
130. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1914–1915
131. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1912–1913, 576.
132. Strachan, The First World War in Africa, 6.
133. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1916–1917, 106.
134. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1916–1917
135. Northrup gives several examples of chiefs who offered what he calls “passive resistance” to colonial demands, such as the “great Zande rulers.” See: Northrup, Beyond the Bend in the River, 44.
136. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1916–1917, 106.
137. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1916–1917
138. Rapport Annuel, Bruges-Saint-Donat, 1916–1917
139. Maxwell, Christians and Chiefs in Zimbabwe, 69.
140. Maxwell, “Christianity,” 6.
141. CitationBulletin de la Congregation, 117–30.
142. Maxwell, “Christianity,” 6.
143. Peel, Religious Encounter, 217.
144. Shorter, Cross and Flag in Africa, 160.
145. Shorter, Cross and Flag in Africa
146. Maxwell, “Christianity,” 9.
147. Shorter, Victor Roelens, 1856–1947.