Christianity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Christianity is the majority religion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is professed by a majority of the population. The number of Christians of all denominations in the Congo is estimated at over 63 million by the Pew Research Center, a figure representing approximately 95.7 percent of the national population or 2.9 percent of the world's Christians. The largest denomination is Roman Catholicism which represents 50 percent of the national population, and is followed by Protestantism (20 percent) and Kimbanguism (10 percent) and other sects. The history of Christianity in the area of the modern-day Congo is closely linked to the history of European colonial expansion.

The earliest evidence for the adoption of Christian religious practices in the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo dates to the late 15th century. In 1491, King Nzinga of the Kongo Kingdom converted to Roman Catholicism, taking the Christian name João, after coming into contact with Portuguese colonial explorers. The conversion facilitated trade with the Portuguese and increased the status of the Kongo Kingdom in the eyes of European states. Afonso I (r.1506–43) even travelled to Europe where he studied religion. The Kongo Kingdom adopted a form of Catholicism and was recognised by the Papacy, preserving the beliefs for nearly 200 years.

The largest expansion of Christianity occurred under Belgian colonial rule. In 1885, Belgium's monarch, Leopold II, established a personal colony in Central Africa known as the Congo Free State which, in 1908, was annexed by Belgium as the Belgian Congo. Under both the Free State and Belgian regimes, Christian missions were encouraged to work in the Congo as part of the civilising mission which served as the colonial project's justification to European public opinion. Missionaries played an important role in providing schooling during the colonial period. Catholic mission, for example, helped to establish the Congo's first university, Lovanium, in 1954.

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