A predominantly Christian country
Evangelized during colonization, Gabon is a predominantly Christian country. Over 80% of the population is made up of Catholics and Protestants, the latter mainly represented in so-called "awakened" churches (derived from the American charismatic born-again movement). However, the country has more Catholics (75%) than Protestants (only 20%). The Catholic Church in Gabon is an ecclesiastical province made up of the metropolitan archdiocese of Libreville and four dioceses: Port-Gentil, Mouila, Franceville and Oyem. Since 1986, there has also been a traditionalist Christian fraternity, the Fraternité Saint-Pie X priory, whose mission is based in the La Peyrie district of Libreville. It is one of the largest fraternities in Africa. The major Christian feasts give rise to festive Masses and large processions through the streets of Libreville, where associations of the faithful dressed in loincloths in the colors of their parish march past. The parishes, and in particular the systematic choirs, are still, like the patronages of another era, a place of gathering and group life for young people who have few alternatives to occupy their weekends. Islam is also present, firstly in the person of the late president, who converted in the 1970s, but also in foreign communities: Lebanese Muslims, Malians, Senegalese. It is estimated that Muslims represent around 9% of the population. Every morning, and particularly on Fridays, the call of the muezzins from the two major urban mosques can be heard in the city center, and the streets are filled with men in prayer robes. Ramadan is also closely followed by these communities, which are often merchants, and stores close early to allow their owners to break the fast with their families. The festive calendar is therefore an example of local ecumenism, and in Gabon, people work just as hard for the feast of Eid as they do for the Assumption.
Religious missions in Gabon
The first Protestant mission in Gabon was founded in 1842, in what is now the Glass district, on the initiative of the American Missionary Committee. This was replaced by the Paris Mission when Gabon became part of the French Empire forty years later. Like their Catholic "cousins", Protestant missionaries pursued a dual objective of "civilization", a necessary prerequisite for evangelization. Chronologically, they were therefore the first actors in the Christianization process, but the Protestant presence in Gabon remained anecdotal for a long time, and lost its importance when the French established themselves administratively and almost exclusively. After the Second World War, the role of the United States, traditionally anti-colonial, on the international scene changed all that. Catholicism was seen as the "colonial" religion, and American Protestantism, which supported the civil rights movement in the United States, began to appear in certain Black African countries as a political refuge, all the more so as it was rather frowned upon by the powers that be. It has to be said that the Catholic Church and colonial administrations were working very closely together in the French colonies at the time, sometimes in defiance of the principle of secularism applied in metropolitan France. The Protestant missions were revived, as they sought to embody the democratic ideals of the "Free World" and refused to leave the African continent in the hands of the former colonialists and the Church of Rome. Later, at the end of the 1970s, the "born again" movement of American charismatic Protestants, whose highly festive rites, relative flexibility with regard to traditional "spiritualities" and emphasis on community over hierarchy contrasted with the rigor of Roman worship, enjoyed considerable success in Black Africa, where movements of varying degrees of sectarianism multiplied. Today, every neighborhood has at least one or two churches or chapels, some with names and promises that might make you smile, if they didn't hide the greed of certain unscrupulous pastors eager for donations from the faithful. In parallel with the construction of schools and dispensaries attached to the missions and the structuring of rural areas, the positive traces of which can still be seen today, the missions, in pursuing their task of conversion, also, alas, combated certain rites incompatible with Christianity and thus induced, or even ordered, the destruction of numerous masks and traditional ritual objects considered to be diabolical pagan objects. Even today, numerous Christian missions, more or less recent, are implanted throughout the country, and work continues on the construction of churches or temples, as well as the schools and health centers that accompany them.
Esoteric movements present
An initiatory fraternity shrouded in mystery, Freemasonry is also practiced in Gabon, and is organized around several obediences, including the Grande Loge du Gabon. There are some 1,500 initiates in Gabonese lodges, mainly from the political sphere. Until the coup d'état of August 30, 2023, Ali Bongo Ondimba, successor to his late father, was Grand Master of the Grande Loge du Gabon, replaced in February 2024 by Jacques-Denis Tsanga, a Gabonese political figure. There is also a small community of Rosicrucians, belonging to the Rosicrucian brotherhood, founded by a mythical figure in the 15th century. Considered a secret order, it teaches the mysteries of the universe, nature and man himself. Its presence in Gabon is controversial. Animism is also alive and well in the country, although it is difficult to quantify because it is not visibly institutionalized. Monotheistic" convictions often coexist harmoniously within families, with a number of ancestral beliefs providing sometimes delightful explanations for everyday events.
