Religion in Angola is diverse, with Christianity being the most widely professed faith. Roman Catholics constitute about half of the population. Other Christian denominations include Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Lutherans, Reformed Churches and Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses − all these denominations making up about a quarter of the population. Since independence, numerous Pentecostal, Evangelical and other communities have sprung up, the most important being the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, of Brazilian origin. Two syncretic "African Christian" churches exist, the Kimbanguists who have their origin in what is the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo, and the indigenous Tokoist faith. There is also a small Muslim minority, consisting of Sunni immigrants from a diversity of African and other countries, who do not form a community. Some Angolans − mostly in remote rural societies − currently profess African Traditional Religions, but traditional beliefs subsist among a substantial part of those who have become Christians. Religion and government The attitude of the Angolan regime toward religion has been inconsistent. The MPLA's commitment to Marxism-Leninism, 1977–1991, meant that its attitude toward religion, at least officially, corresponded during that period to that of the traditional Soviet Marxist–Leninist dogma, which generally characterized religion as antiquated and irrelevant to the construction of a new society. The government also viewed religion as an instrument of colonialism because of the Roman Catholic Church's close association with the Portuguese. Furthermore, because membership in the party was the road to influence, party leaders and many of the cadres were likely to have no formal religious commitment, or at any rate to deny having one (even though most of Angola's leaders in the 1980s were educated at Catholic, Baptist, Methodist or Congregational mission schools). Nonetheless, the government acknowledged the prevalence of religion in Angolan societies and officially recognized the equality of all religions, tolerating religious practices as long as the churches restricted themselves to spiritual matters. The state, however, did institute certain specific controls over religious organizations, and was prepared to act quickly when it felt that it was challenged by the acts of a specific group. Thus, in early 1978 the MPLA Political Bureau ordered the registration of "legitimate" churches and religious organizations at the "National Institute for Religious Matters", created in the framework of the Ministry of Culture. Although foreign priests and missionaries were permitted to stay in the country, and although religious groups or churches could receive goods