The Attitudes of the Roman Catholic Church Towards Black Slavery in the Portuguese and Belgian Colonial Empires (from midnineteenth century until World War I).

The aim of my research is to compare the attitudes of the Roman Catholic Church leaders/authorities and missionaries towards Black Slavery in the Portuguese and Belgian Colonial Empires. With regard to the geographical coverage of my research, I want to focus on the Congo- Angola region. The chronological framework within which I want to situate my research is the period stretching from mid-nineteenth century until the outbreak of the First World War, in 1914. For the Belgian case it is important to stress that I want start with the establishment of the first missions in the 1870s but that I will focus on the period that goes from 1885 (when King Leopold II practically saw his sovereignty over his private Congo State recognized in Berlin) until 1914. With regard to the Portuguese case I want to start with one or two decades preceding the official abolition of slavery in the Portuguese overseas by a decree dated 25 February 1869. By starting my analysis few years before the abolition decree it will be possible to evaluate the nature of the Portuguese Church’s positions on slavery before and after the abolition decree. This decree met with strong resistance of slave owners and of all those who profited from slavery. The de iure abolition did not mean de facto abolition; the enforcement of de facto abolition of slavery in Angola was a problem that the first Republican governments still had to deal with.