Built for the Catholic Church
Roles, terms and approval steps follow how parishes and dioceses in Congo actually work.
Ut unum sintJohn 17:21
Official platform of the Catholic Church in the DRC
Catholics RDC brings together the sacramental register, parish administration and spiritual accompaniment. It serves the parish and the chancery, the diocese and the National Episcopal Conference of Congo, on one simple rule: only the register is authoritative.
Principles
Each module has a clear task. Parish administration does not copy the registers. The register is not used as a directory. Spiritual accompaniment stays confidential. This separation protects the faithful and the value of each record.
Roles, terms and approval steps follow how parishes and dioceses in Congo actually work.
A member of the faithful is entered once. Each module keeps only what concerns it, with no copies that could drift apart.
Rights granted by role, successive approvals and an audit log: you always know who did what, and when.
Modules
The temporal life of the parish: the faithful, Masses, finances and pastoral care. It reads the register but never changes it.
The diocese's book of reference. Baptisms, confirmations, first communions, marriages and burials are entered and kept there. It alone is authoritative in canon law.
To pray with the parish and to be accompanied: verified prayers, the rosary, the liturgical calendar and prayer intentions.
In detail
All of these features are in use. They are shared among the three modules, and the register remains the only authoritative source.
Records numbered by parish and by year, with folio and page. Entry checks the conditions for baptism and those for godparents (can. 535 § 1, 877).
Prior baptism is required, a second confirmation is refused and the minister's faculty is checked (can. 535 § 1, 879-896).
The customary register of first communions, linked to each child's baptism record.
Both parties, the canonical form, the witnesses and the assisting minister, with his delegation where needed (can. 1121).
Date of death, funeral, place of burial and minister. The person is then shown as deceased across the whole platform (can. 1182).
Confirmation and marriage are noted in the margin of the baptism record, in the same operation (can. 535 § 2).
The parish of baptism is informed automatically. For a parish not yet on the platform, an A4 letter on diocesan letterhead is produced and followed up (can. 895, 1122).
Religion of the parties, recent baptism certificates, three publications of the banns and dispensations, followed step by step (can. 1067).
Canonical age, prior bond, disparity of cult, mixed marriage: the office is alerted, without blocking what falls under a dispensation (can. 1083-1086, 1124).
Extracts, full copies and international formats. Each one carries a QR code that any recipient can check online (can. 535 § 3).
Recent records are released only to those entitled to them. Every consultation and every certificate issued leaves a trace.
At the end of the year, the parish closes its registers. Records are locked and an authentic duplicate goes to the curia (can. 535 § 4).
The catechumens' path follows the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Each baptism request is followed until it is entered in the register (can. 851, 865).
Each record receives a digital fingerprint and is locked once entered. Any later change would be detected at once.
The year's figures by parish and for the diocese, compared with the previous year and ready to export for the Annuarium.
One file per person, with status, family and the main stages of life, and a membership card in PDF.
Attendance recorded for one person or a whole group, and transfers between parishes with a covering letter.
Scheduling of Masses with their order, feedback after the celebration and a library of homilies.
Choir members by voice part, repertoire, rehearsals and song sheets prepared for each moment of the Mass.
Each gift is recorded with its receipt. Donors receive a yearly statement.
Expenses approved in stages, budgets by financial year and the OHADA chart of accounts, in Congolese francs as well as foreign currencies.
Visits, social cases and intentions entrusted to the priest, as well as follow-up of fraternities and neighbourhood groups.
Children and young people grouped in classes, check-in and check-out, incident log.
Paid staff and volunteers, the services they give and their schedules.
Buildings, rooms, equipment and vehicles. Messages by SMS, email or WhatsApp, sent after approval.
The practical organisation of baptisms, marriages and funerals. The record itself is entered in the sacramental register.
Dashboards, finance and attendance reports, and an online area where each member finds their profile, their gifts and upcoming events.
The Church's great prayers, in several languages, each with its source and the clergy's approval.
Prayers can be read without an account or sign-in, by anyone who wishes to pray or to discover the faith.
The four sets of mysteries, presented one by one, and a rosary guided bead by bead.
Easter, movable feasts, liturgical seasons and colours computed for each day, with the saint of the day.
The community posts its intentions, anonymously if wished. They are reviewed before being published.
Groups for sharing the faith, led and moderated by the clergy.
A member of the faithful asks to be accompanied and the clergy appoints a companion. Only that companion reads the journal of meetings.
Intentions, groups and accompaniment in one place. Each person sees only what concerns them.
A member's identity is entered once and shared by the three modules.
Administration and accompaniment read the sacramental status. They never change it (can. 535).
CENCO, the six ecclesiastical provinces and the forty-seven dioceses are already set up, with their deaneries, their parishes and the clergy directory.
The register and the spiritual companion speak seven languages, including Swahili and Latin. Parish administration is in French and English.
Each diocese sees only its own data and sets its own preferences, including its language.
Rights are granted by role. The audit log is kept for as long as the diocese decides.
Canon law
Official numbering, marginal notes added in the same operation, records sealed as soon as they are entered. Certificates and extracts come only from the register, because it alone is authoritative.
Coming next
The platform keeps growing with the dioceses. These projects build on what already works, without removing anything.
Today
Sacramental register, parish administration and spiritual companion, already used by the dioceses.
In preparation
Sacraments and certificates on one side, intentions and accompaniment on the other, on the same page.
A member asks for an intention and makes an offering. The parish assigns it to a Mass and keeps the register of offerings (can. 945-958).
Coming next
The parish priest, the chancellor or the bishop signs online, and each document issued carries proof of its authenticity.
A reminder of pending requests and a weekly summary for the parish priest.
Each diocese will be able to adapt the layout of its certificates.
Under study
A tool for nullity notes and the register of marriages celebrated in secret, kept by the curia (can. 1133).
Roll-out
Parishes, authorised staff, approval steps and existing archives.
Modules, languages, rights and email templates specific to the diocese.
Faithful, parishes and paper registers are imported step by step, with checks on every batch.
The chancery, parish offices and pastoral teams, until they work on their own.
Official platform
Authorised dioceses, parishes and parish offices can use it now. For access or a diocesan partnership, write to the chancery.