Loango and Linzolo, Marian cradle of the Congo
Congo-Brazzaville · Dos shrines of the African Atlantic
The ancient kingdom of Loango
El Kingdom of Loango was one of the great Bantu kingdoms of the Atlantic coast, located in the present Republic of the Congo (Congo- Brazzaville). The Portuguese arrived on the coast of Loango in the 15th century. The first Jesuit missions were established in the 17th century. Evangelization was intense but was also interrupted by persecution and the slave trade.
The Marian Sanctuary of Loango It is linked to the first Christians of the kingdom: those who received the baptism of the Portuguese missionaries and kept the faith for generations. The title of the Immaculate Conception - the favorite of the Portuguese Jesuits - is the holder of the first sanctuary of the country.
Linzolo: the heart of the Congolese Church
Linzolo It is a hill a few kilometers from Brazzaville where the Fathers of the Holy Spirit (Espirians) founded in 1883 the first permanent mission of the Congo. On the top of the hill is a small chapel dedicated to the Virgin. The hill of Linzolo is considered the Catholic cradle in the Congo. From there the evangelization was extended inwards.
Every year, on the first Sunday of May, Catholics from Brazzaville and the whole Congo make the pilgrimage to the hill of Linzolo. It is one of the oldest pilgrimages in Central Africa.
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