Belgian Congo 45 ] CHRISTIANITY in the Congo ; many stations , schools, hospitals, and dispensaries had been opened , and considerable num bers of converts had been made. The Roman Catholics had, in 1907 , 343 missionaries (male and female) and claimed 41,000 converts, about double the number ascribed to the Protestants. In either case the genuine ness of the Christianity of the converts is not always free from question. The total number of converts is, however, in any case so small as to indicate that the process of Christianizing the people must be slow, especially as Christianity is opposed to polygamy, and polygamy is still the basis of native life. But it would be unfair to under-estimate the value in the way of civilizing influences of the work which the many devoted missionaries of the Congo have performed at great personal sacrifice. The Protestant missionaries have been ably assisted by their wives, while Catholic nuns have worked with great devotion. The State recognizes fully its duty to aid and protect missionary enterprise at least as far as Catholic missions are concerned , and since the advent of King Albert to the throne Protestant missions also have been promised fair treatment, if not assured of active support such as is accorded to the Catholics.1 (b) Paganism Despite the efforts of the Christian missions, the vast majority of the people of the Congo are still wholly pagan , nor is there any probability of the early con version of the tribes to a higher faith . The paganism of the Congo is unprogressive and devoid of points of contact with more advanced religions. A vague belief in a supreme deity is counterweighed by the fact that this spirit is held not to interest himself in the affairs of the world, and consequently is not the object of 1 Cd . 6606 , p . 39.