The Congolese Cross

From David Walters : Katanga (Congolese) crosses were used as currency in the copper mining region of what used to be Zaire, in Africa. They are made of copper and range from about a half-pound to 2.5 pounds. They are also associated with ritual, as they were buried with the dead. The crosses predate Christianity in the area, but missionaries adapted the symbolism of the cross for their own purposes. Katanga was an independent nation for a brief period, from 1960-1963, during which time they issued new national coins, francs, with a picture of the Katanga cross on them! "

From: Paul Schrijnen: Wonderful to find out more about this cross. I came across one of these at a market outside of Luanda in Angola last year, but alas, wasn't able to buy one. They were quit expensive, about $100. Who know the story of how, when and why we picked this symbol for the OE. Where is Fred?

From: Charles Hahn : Greetings Paul, In response to your question, I share this. When we came to the Order in August 1964, we were told that Joe brought the "Congolese" cross back with him from a trip he and Bishop Jim Mathews had made to Africa. Someone in the Congo had given it to him as a special gift. It was also communicated to him that it had earlier been used as currency. Earlier that summer of 1964 when the group decided to formally launch the order, as a symbol of that launch, they had Frank Hilliard nail the cross to the wall of the dining room in the basement dining room of the old faculty west on the Fifth City campus. Someone who has been around longer than I

Museum reference from: John Cock: http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/objectmo/ob-9802.htm

From Terry Bergdall: Here is what Fred Buss -- before he apparently became displaced(!)-- wrote about it in March 2007; see http://wiki.wedgeblade.net/bin/view/Main/OrderHistory The Congolese cross was nailed to the Westside wall >>in 1964.JWM felt the Congolese cross, symbolic of 1. Cruciform shape, 2. International, 3. Developing world, >> 4.As money, the transfiguration of the secular into the religious as a demand on the 20th century church’s Amission. The cross was the form of exchange (money) >>and made of solid copper. I heard the basics of this same history in 1968 when I first visited the Ecumenical Institute.

After I was assigned to Africa in 1984, I asked Lyn Mathews to elaborate on the story. She told me that Joe was given an antique cross at Victoria Falls during his first research trip to Africa. She said he liked that fact that it came from a non-western culture. Lyn also confirmed that this same cross was used to symbolize the covenant of the Order shortly after their departure from the Faith and Life Community in Austin. Lyn told me, however, that the original cross from Victoria Falls had somehow vanished. If I ever came across another one in Africa, she told me that she would be most grateful if I would obtained it for her.

This is the kind of quest I enjoy. Little by little, I pieced together their African history (which has since been confirmed in the link above from they McClung Museum): they are copper ingots that were used as a primitive form of currency in pre-colonial Africa. They primarily originated from the Katanga region (thus some refer to them by that name).

Today, this is where the southeast tail of the Congo spears into the middle of Zambia -- an odd border negotiated by European colonial powers due to huge copper deposits. In the mid-1990s I finally stumbled across some of these antique copper ingots in an open-air market in Lusaka. At the time I felt it was almost as if I had found the Holy Grail! I bought four and gave one to Lyn in Dallas during the January 1996 conference of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF). That was the last time I saw her.

That brought my long and interesting search in Africa for an original "Congelese" cross to a successful end. What it symbolizes, however, (i.e., embodying a new religious mode in a secular time), remains an active pursuit

-- LenHockley - 18 Oct 2007