[1]: 20 [2] Figures in 2020 suggested that 85% of the country had a Christian background, with 34% following Protestantism and 32% following Catholicism.
[5] Later on, the first Jesuits in the country crossed the Zambezi River near Victoria Falls in 1879.
The White Fathers, entering from the north in 1891, had greater success in what is now Northern and Luapula Province.
Permanent Catholic stations on the Copperbelt were provided by Italian Franciscans in 1931.
Some media outlets, such as Radio Icengelo and the National Mirror, are linked to the church, which has championed social justice issues and the early pro-democracy movement of the 1980s.