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Christianity is the predominant religion in the Republic of the Congo, with Catholicism being its largest denomination. Different sources give varying population figures for various denominations. The 2012 census reported 55% of the native-born population is Catholic, 32% Protestant, and 2% Muslim. [ 2 ]
Half of Congolese people follow traditional beliefs, and there are 15 principle Bantu groups and more than 70 subgroups. The other half are 35% Roman Catholic, 15% other Christian and 2% Muslim. The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin.
Throughout the DRC the beliefs take on a number of forms, but they have a number of things in common: A creator spirit is thought to be sovereign of the spirit world, but this god is rarely the direct cause of events. In many Congolese languages, the name of the creator god derives from the word father or maker. Some groups regard the creator ...
The religions practised in precolonial Congo were as far as is known animistic in nature. They believed that places, objects and creatures could possess a spiritual essence and practised ancestral worship. According to the religion practised by the Bakongo people the world is split into the world of the living and the world of the dead.
Kongo religion (Kikongo: Bukongo or Bakongo) encompasses the traditional beliefs of the Bakongo people. Due to the highly centralized position of the Kingdom of Kongo , its leaders were able to influence much of the traditional religious practices across the Congo Basin . [ 1 ]
There are around 35 million Catholics in the country. There are six archdioceses and 41 dioceses. The impact of the Catholic Church in the DRC is enormous. Besides involving over 40% of the population in its religious services, its schools have educated over 60% of the nation's primary school students and more than 40% of its secondary students.
The Times Square ball drop ceremony in New York City, seen here on Jan. 1, 2023, is one of many New Year's traditions honored around the world. Credit - Gotham/GC Images—Getty Images
This includes the worship of tutelary deities, nature worship, ancestor worship and the belief in an afterlife, comparable to other traditional religions around the world. While some religions have a pantheistic worldview with a supreme creator god next to other gods and spirits, others follow a purely polytheistic system with various gods ...