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RICHARD GRAY THE AFRJCAN ORJGINS OF THE MISSIO ANTIQUA The Missio Antiqua of the Capuchins to the kingdom of Kongo was by far the most important mission sent to Africa by Rome before the middle of the nìneteenth century. A dìstinguìshed line of scholars from Cavazzi in the seven– teenth century bave notably traced its fortunes and illuminated its significance. The volume by Teobaldo Filesi and Isidoro de Villapadìerna is, and will long continue to be, the essential guide to the. abundant sources of information for histo.cians of Africa contained in the letters and reports written by so many of these pioneer missionaries. Forty years ago when I began to explore some of the archival sources in Rome, Louis Jadin generously gave me much initial guìdance and imparted his enthusiasm for the history of the Kongo kingdom; twenty years later, when I began at last to turn my attention to this theme, Fa– ther Isidoro welcomed and initiated me into the riches of the Istituto Storico, which he with his confreres have so greatly fostered. Those of us who have had the fortune to benefit personally from his wide guìdance, unendìng patience and kindness, are deeply grateful that the contribution of the Capuchìns to an understanding of African and ecclesiastical history has been so notably maìn– taìned. The remote story of the Missio Antiqua might seem irrelevant to the op– portunities and challenges which today face the Church in Africa. Yet this tra– dìtion of scholarly interest has kept alivç the memory of this early endeavour with ali its mutua! misunderstandings, errors and, on both sides, its redeeming sacrifices. Two major recent studies bave notably underlined the significance of these early centuries for the whole theme of inculturation and the history of Christianity in Africa 1 • As the third millennium of Christianity approaches, it is also a source of hope and joy to discover the extent to which the growth of the Churçh in Africa has been not merely a matter of European endeavours, but a co-operative undertaking in which Africans took ìmportant initiatives from the 1 Adrian Hastings, The Chmrh in Africa 1450-1950, Oxford 1994; John K. Thornton, The Kongo!ese SaintAnthof!Y, Cambridge 1998.