The trajectories of the Church of Zéphirin

Based on field surveys and unpublished data, this article offers a socio-political analysis of a hitherto little-studied Congolese prophetic movement. The article discusses the figure of the prophet Lassy Simon Zéphirin and the emergence of the Église du christianisme prophétique en Afrique (Church of Prophetic Christianity in Africa) (CPA), with an emphasis on the important relations it has established since its origins with the Congolese state. We examine this entanglement of the political and the religious, on the fringes of constitutional secularism, in relation to its history from the colonial period to the present day, by documenting various significant episodes in the life of the religious institution that have been characterised by repeated interference from state representatives.