Abstract
The author of this article has taken up, on one hand, the problem of the ideology of Greek missionaries in Africa and, on the other, the influence of African nationalistic and messianic factors in the reception of orthodoxy as a means of religious expression of the natives.
The implantation of orthodoxy in Africa does not result from an organized missionary effort but rather from the historical encounter of Greek orthodox messianism with its African homologue. The Greek missionaries, faithful to the Byzantine schema of a close link between religion and nation, contributed to a highlighting of the meaning of the struggles for independence. This was the case especially in Uganda and Kenya. In the case of Zaire, on the other hand, orthodoxy was only implanted after the proclamation of independence. It was positively received because Greek orthodox messianism, centered on the spiritual, corresponded to the expectations inspired by the prophetic movement of Simon Kibangu.