Republic of the Congo Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, go to the Religious Records page.

Church records
Research use: Church registers are a primary source of birth, marriage, and death information in Zaire. Record type: Baptisms, marriages, burials for Belgians and native Zairians.

Time period: 1890 to present.

Contents: Baptisms – name of child, date and place of birth; names of parents. Marriages – date and place of marriage; names of couples. Burials – name, residence, age of deceased, place of death, names of family members or relatives. Sometimes information regarding divorces and confirmations.

Location: National Archives, Kinshasa, and Diocese Archives.

Population coverage: Estimated to be up to 50% of the Belgians, thought to be approximately 45% of the Zairians. Government figures show a high rate of membership of Zairians in the various Christian churches.

Reliability: Good.