Marcel Lihau was born on 29 September 1931 in Bumba, Équateur Province, Belgian Congo, the eldest of eight children.
After his secondary education at the Bolongo seminary, he attended the Jesuit University Centre in Kisantu, graduating from the school's administrative sciences division.
One of Lihau's teachers, sociologist Willy De Craemer, resolved to help him enroll in the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, a school mostly unavailable to Congolese.
To do this, De Craemer tutored him in Latin, Greek, and Flemish so he could take the Jury Central entrance exam.
Lihau passed the test with a high score and was admitted to the university.
Since it was his goal to study law (not permitted to Congolese students at the time), De Craemer and several sympathetic Jesuit educators arranged for Lihau to take the necessary classes under the cover of studying Roman philology.
He also studied economics and philosophy.
For the duration of his studies he stayed with the family of a former director of Radio Léopoldville, Karel Theunissen.
Lihau served as president of the small Congolese-Ruanda-Urundi students' union in Belgium, Association Générale des Étudiants Congolais en Belgique (AGEC).

In 1958 a conference of Belgian missionaries was held to discuss expanding tertiary education in the Congo.
As an invited speaker, Lihau encouraged Belgian clergy to join the side of Congolese activists and abandon what he referred to as an attitude of "clerical paternalism".
In 1962, after spending time in the Congo, Lihau returned to Louvain to complete his studies.
That year restrictions on Congolese education were loosened and Lihau became a Doctor of Philosophy law student.
By the following January he had become one of the first Congolese to receive a law degree, earning it with distinction.
Marcel Lihau was born on 29 September 1931 in Bumba, Équateur Province, Belgian Congo, the eldest of eight children. After his secondary education at the Bolongo seminary, he attended the Jesuit University Centre in Kisantu, graduating from the school's administrative sciences division. One of Lihau's teachers, sociologist Willy De Craemer, resolved to help him enroll in the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, a school mostly unavailable to Congolese. To do this, De Craemer tutored him in Latin, Greek, and Flemish so he could take the Jury Central entrance exam. Lihau passed the test with a high score and was admitted to the university. Since it was his goal to study law (not permitted to Congolese students at the time), De Craemer and several sympathetic Jesuit educators arranged for Lihau to take the necessary classes under the cover of studying Roman philology. He also studied economics and philosophy. For the duration of his studies he stayed with the family of a former director of Radio Léopoldville, Karel Theunissen. Lihau served as president of the small Congolese-Ruanda-Urundi students' union in Belgium, Association Générale des Étudiants Congolais en Belgique (AGEC).
In 1958 a conference of Belgian missionaries was held to discuss expanding tertiary education in the Congo. As an invited speaker, Lihau encouraged Belgian clergy to join the side of Congolese activists and abandon what he referred to as an attitude of "clerical paternalism". In 1962, after spending time in the Congo, Lihau returned to Louvain to complete his studies. That year restrictions on Congolese education were loosened and Lihau became a Doctor of Philosophy law student. By the following January he had become one of the first Congolese to receive a law degree, earning it with distinction.
Marcel Lihau