Congo Grants Status to Church

Formal status to proselyte has been granted to the Church in Congo, a west African nation.

Scott H. Taggart, president of the Zaire Mission, notified the Church’s Africa Area presidency of the recognition. Missionaries have been assigned to the country already.

Congo has a population of approximately 2.3 million people. The country, which was once ruled by France, became independent in 1960. Its official language is French.

“The Congo should provide an excellent opportunity for further solid establishment of the Church on the African continent,” observed Elder Richard P. Lindsay of the Seventy, president of the Africa Area. “In contrast to many of the poorer African nations, which are unable to provide widespread education, the Congo has an adult literacy rate in excess of 80 percent. It should be a fruitful field for the Church.”

The Congo was the fifth African nation to grant the Church formal recognition in 1991. The others were Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast, and Botswana.

“In each of these countries, full-time missionaries are now serving and the Church is moving forward,” Elder Lindsay said.