Antonianism

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A picture depicting the great St. Anthony, who Dona Beatriz claimed to have seen. This sparked the great Congolese Catholicism movement and ideas of unifying Kongo under one king.

Antonianism was a syncretic Christian movement formed in the Kingdom of Kongo in the early 18th century. Its founder was a young charismatic named Kimpa Vita, baptized Beatriz, who considered Saint Anthony of Padua the greatest of all saints.

Roman Catholicism had been introduced to Sub-Saharan Africa in the 15th century and had attracted a wide following in Kongo. Beatriz claimed Anthony had told her through a vision to create a new Kongolese Catholicism, and she incorporated various native practices and traditions into her movement. The movement was somewhat slowed with the death of Beatriz, who was executed for heresy under Kongolese law in 1706.

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