Towards an identity-based approach to Congolese prayer communities

In European cities, African churches are growing. In Belgium, the majority of them are the result of Congolese immigration. This is not the religion brought by colonization, but the religion of the immigrant, constituted by prayer communities or Congolese churches (mostly revivalist), imported from the Congo but founded in Belgium, playing an important role in the ethnic gathering of dispersed individuals; they form a kind of circular territory with their country from transnational networks; as Bastian says: "religious transnationality is a process of multilateral diffusion that crosses borders without emanating from a specific point of departure, nor is it driven by state interests. It would find its principle in networking strategies. The network as a set of interconnected nodes would facilitate the discursive circulation and the translocal circulation of religious identities.

Autorentext

EYOMBI Bakwansibili Léon: sociólogo y administrador de servicios sanitarios e instituciones médico-sociales. Tras licenciarse en SIG, trabajó como administrador-gerente en FONAMES. Licenciado en Ciencias Hospitalarias. Diploma de Estudios Avanzados en Antropología. Diploma de Estudios Superiores Especializados en Derecho Sanitario.