This church is also known as ‘Children of the Sacred Heart’ (Bana Ba-Mutima in the language of the Bemba people in Zambia). The founder, Emilio Mulolani, born in 1923, came from a Catholic family and, as a child, he impressed his teachers in the junior seminary. But when he went to a senior seminary in Tanzania he was not accepted as suitable for ordination as a priest. However, he then served for years as a teacher and catechist. In 1954, after a vision, he founded a League of the Sacred Heart which aimed to combat alcoholism. He helped missionaries who lacked command of the local language. Many thought he was revealing parts of the Christian message deliberately hidden from them by the white priests. Among his followers, he had some who separated from their families and committed themselves to celibacy and the service of the poor.
There was growing tension with the bishops concerning the content of his preaching, although for some years he was using a language most missionaries did not know. He was anxious to remain a Catholic and actually set out on a pilgrimage on foot to Rome in order to appeal to the Pope; he returned after reaching Kenya. Finally, in 1958, he was excommunicated and sought government registration for his separate Catholic (not Roman) church. This was granted but in 1961 the church was struck off by the colonial government.
The points on which he took issue with church authority included the following: his ‘enlargement’ of the Trinity, exaggerations in devotion to Mary and, especially, neo-Gnostic dualism, suggesting that the Spirit is all that matters and bodily behaviour indifferent. Later, there were messianic hopes connected with his person. Because of Emilio’s political stance as well as the disorderly behaviour of some followers, in 1974 the Zambian government made membership illegal. Underground activity continued and as late as 1984, the courts sanctioned secret assemblies with fines and imprisonment.
