Conventions between the Vatican State and the Congolese State. An Attempt to Understand the Paradoxical Stakes of An Atypical Bilateral Cooperation

The study of the relations between the Vatican State and the Congolese State highlights the different dimensions of this cooperation through a triple reading, namely historiographical, structural and critical. The study starts from the relationship between the Vatican State and the political microstructures that have gradually constituted the Democratic Republic of Congo. The first paradox is the geopolitical aspect of the establishment of Catholic missions in a historical context marked by rivalries for the politico-religious conquest of the African space between the Portuguese, French, English, Belgians and Germans, leading in several cases to weaknesses in the arbitration of divergent territorial interests on the part of the Holy See. Subsequently, the study notes a significant moment in the relationship between the Vatican and the DRC through the tumultuous movement of cultural Zairianisation. A second paradox emerges, marked by the accelerated engagement of the state in a process of secularisation of public services under the management of Catholic missions before turning around and rectifying its emerging rivalries against the Catholic Church as an emanation of the Vatican state. This paradox, however, seems to be explained in the context of the economic crisis of 1973-1976. A third paradox emerges from the reassertion of Vatican diplomacy in the internal affairs of the DRC, through a series of bilateral cooperation agreements signed between 2001 and 2022. The analysis highlights the paradox of these recent conventions between the DRC and the Holy See, both in terms of taxation and patrimony, in terms of the stay of foreigners (ecclesiastics), in terms of the appointment of bishops, and with regard to other various advantages granted to the Church, which now enjoys greater autonomy in relation to the other religious forces present. Nevertheless, following the state visit of Pope Francis, the study highlights the lessons learned from this visit and concludes on the complexity of bilateral cooperation, and the challenges it can pose even between partners as distant as the Vatican and the Congolese state.