Medical Orders: Catholic and Protestant Missionary Medicine in the Belgian Congo 1880-1940
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18352/bmgn-lchr.10309Keywords:
Medical history, Belgium, Congo, MissionaryAbstract
The history of religious missions and the provisioning of western medical care in the region that was known as the Congo Free State and later the Belgian Congo reveals the complicated dynamics between competing religious missions vis à vis the Belgian colonial state. This essay highlights divisions between identities and purposes of different religious groups in medical care provisioning, focusing on the divide between the Catholic and Protestant churches.
Because most Protestant missions in the Congo were American or British, the medical care provided by the Protestant church was outside of, and sometimes at odds with, the Belgian colonial state until the 1920s. In contrast, the Catholic Church served in an auxiliary role in the colonial state’s medical infrastructure. This was not an ideal situation, leading Catholic leaders to attempt to rework the church’s role in medical provisioning. Ultimately, mission, medicine, and empire were not always comfortable bedfellows.
This article is part of the special issue 'Blurring Boundaries: Towards a Medical History of the Twentieth Century'.
Medische Orders: katholieke en protestantse missiegeneeskunde in de Belgische Congo 1880-1940
De geschiedenis van de religieuze missies en het voorzien in westerse medische gezondheidszorg in de Congo Vrijstaat – later de Belgische Congo – onthult de ingewikkelde dynamiek tussen de concurrerende religieuze missies vis à vis de Belgische koloniale staat. Dit artikel belicht verschillende religieuze groepen die medische zorg verleenden in deze regio en hun verdeeldheid inzake identiteiten en doelen. Hierbij wordt vooral gefocust op de tweedracht tussen de katholieke en protestantse kerk.
Omdat de meeste protestantse missies die in de Congo gevestigd waren uit Amerika of Engeland kwamen, werd de medische zorg die zij verstrekten vaak buiten de Belgische koloniale staat om geleverd en leefden staat en protestantse kerk tot in de jaren 1920 soms op gespannen voet met elkaar. Dit staat in sterk contrast tot de katholieke kerk die wat betreft medische infrastructuur juist een ondersteunende rol had in de koloniale staat. Dit was voor de katholieken geen ideale situatie, waardoor de katholieke leiders probeerden om de medische rol van de kerk te veranderen. Het moge duidelijk zijn dat de missies, de geneeskunde en de staat niet altijd even goede bedgenoten waren.
Dit artikel maakt deel uit van het themanummer 'Blurring Boundaries: Towards a Medical History of the Twentieth Century'.
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