Roman Catholic Church in Kongo - The Antonian Movement

The Antonian Movement

Kongo's long civil war, occasioned by their defeat at the Battle of Mbwila (1665) and the political crisis that followed led to a crisis in society and the church. The breakdown of order as no one king was able to establish authority over the whole country in the aftermath of the death of Antonio I at the battle, and the abandonment of the capital following its sack in 1678, resulted in the unofficial partitioning of the country into hostile camps led by rival kings and entrenched in the mountains of Mbula and Kibangu or the coastal province of Luvota. Their incessant wars led to population dislocation, food shortages, and an increase in the slave trade. In addition, the attitude of the Capuchins toward the Kongo elite, and toward the long established practices of the country galled many people.

In this atmosphere of crisis, a new spirit of religious fervor arose in the preaching of Beatriz Kimpa Vita, who claimed to be possessed by Saint Anthony of Padua in 1704. Beatriz preached that all the kings had to reunited at the ancient and then abandoned capital of São Salvador to restore the kingdom. She also introduced new elements to religion that she claimed she had from God himself during weekly sojourns in Heaven. Among them were that Jesus had been born in Kongo and was a Kongolese as were his mother and Saint Anthony. She taught that the sacraments of the church were unnecessary for salvation, that the intention of the believer was all that was necessary. While some thought this might have been Protestant influence, it is likely that it derived form long held local concepts of religion.

Beatriz preached at the camps of several of the kings and sent her followers to the others, eventually settling in São Salvador and taking up residence in the ruined cathedral. Shortly after this she became pregnant and was arrested by forces to Pedro IV, one of the pretenders. He put her on trial for witchcraft and had her burned at the stake on 2 July 1706.

While Pedro was able to restore the kingdom and reoccupy Sāo Salvador, without much effective resistance from the Antonians, some of Beatriz' ideas, including the idea that Jesus was from Kongo remained. Brass crucifixes produced in Kongo in the eighteenth and nineteenth century frequently depict Jesus as an Africa and wearing clothing decorated in designs popular in the country.