Antonianism

Antonianism
Type	Syncretic Christian new religious movement
Region	Kingdom of Kongo (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Founder	Beatriz Kimpa Vita
Origin	1704
Defunct	1708
Members	20,000

Antonianism, or Antonine sect (Portuguese: Antonianismo), was a syncretic Christian new religious movement formed in the Kingdom of Kongo between 1704 and 1706 as a development within the Roman Catholic Church in Kongo. Its founder was a young charismatic woman named Beatriz Kimpa Vita who said she was possessed by Saint Anthony of Padua. Beatriz became known for healing and other miracles. It was eventually suppressed by King Pedro IV of Kongo, and Dona Beatriz was burned at the stake as a heretic.

Dona Beatriz (the Baptismal name of Kimpa Vita) was a young indigenous noblewoman born around 1684 in the Kongo. The Kingdom of Kongo was the largest and most powerful kingdom in Central Africa, but its influence was waning; during the 17th century, Portugal became the dominant military and economic force in the region. The Portuguese had begun converting the people of the Kongo to Catholicism as early as the 15th century. The nobility of the Kongo and the commoners both practised Catholicism.

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 major differences between Roman Catholicism and Antonianism were the rejection of the cross, as it was seen as being responsible for Christ's death, as well as the rejection of baptism, confession and prayer. Among her beliefs were that Jesus was a black man and that the Kongo was the real home of Christianity. She also held that heaven was for Africans. Beatriz also made polygamy legal in her movement.

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