Slavery and Other Atrocities in the Relations Between the Catholic Church and the Congo Free State (1889–1908)

Abstract

In 1865 Leopold II acceded to the throne as the second King of the Belgians. Nothing was as clear in his mind as his conviction that, to be competitive in the international arena, Belgium needed to acquire a colony.

All the major archives consulted in the preparation of the present study are referred to in abbreviated forms. They are the following: AA = African Archives (of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brussels); AAM = Archiepiscopal Archive of Mechelen; AGCSE Archives Générales de la Congrégation du Saint Esprit (Paris); AGR = Archives Générales du Royaume (Brussels); ANB = Archivio della Nunziatura di Belgio (Vatican); AMFAB = Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brussels; ARP = Archive of the Royal Palace (Brussels); ASV = Archivio Segreto Vaticano; SdS = Segreteria di Stato (Vatican); ASCPF = Acta Sacra Congregazione de Propaganda Fide; ASCEP = Archivio Storico della Congregazione per l’Evangelizzazione dei Popoli—Propaganda Fide (Rome).