This contribution deals with the steps taken by the flemish capucinsfrom 1930 on in favour of the beatification of Adrianus Willems (inreligion Georges van Geel). This capucin father was killed by villagersin the Congo Missions at the end of 1652 in unclear circumstances. FatherHildebrand, the historian of the capucins, promoted this beatificationand wrote two biographies and several articles on this martyr. Newdocuments, found in the archives of the capucin fathers in Antwerp andin those of the archdiocese of Malines, reveal the underlying purposes ofthe campain: to increase the prestige of the capucin missions in Congo;to !end support to the redemptorist missions in their struggle against theprotestant missions and the prophetic movements in Lower Congo, theregion where Georges van Geel died. The undertaking failed but had avery positive effect on the historiography of Congo and Angola from the16th to the 18th century.
