Competing Catholicisms: The Jesuits, the Vatican & the Making of Postcolonial French Africa (Religion in Transforming Africa, 10)

Explores the impact of Jesuit missions on the development of Christianity in postcolonial French Africa, which found itself at the centre of major shifts and struggles within global Christianity and world politics.At a time when most African countries were moving towards independence, the Vatican was speeding up the Church's indigenization agenda in an effort to secure its survival in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, at the same time, African nationalism was on the rise and, following the collapse of its colonial empire, France was attempting to reassert its influence in Africa. This book shows how the Vatican, French Jesuits, the rising Cameroonian indigenous clergy and leadership, and the first Cameroonian Jesuits competed for the Catholic evangelization of French Africa during the mid-20th century. In the mission field, they also competed with different Protestant groups, with whom they shared acommon aim: to convert African traditional religionists and different groups of African Muslims to Christ, while containing the spread of anti-religious ideologies such as Communism. Tracing the rapid expansion of Christianity in Central and Western French Africa during the second half of the twentieth century, the author shows in this book how this competition for faith helped both build the church in French West Africa and Africanize the church alongside missionary Christianity in postcolonial Africa. He also explores the African reaction to this diverse and competing global agenda of Christianization, especially after Chad and Cameroon came together as part of a single Jesuit jurisdiction in 1973, and the way in which, despite differing interpretations of Catholicity which generated internal conflicts, Western Jesuits focus on popular masses and the poor, was able to contain the spread of Islam, counter the Chad's persecution of Christians during the Cultural Revolution (1973-1975) and secure the survival of Christianity as a missionary movement in which Western missionaries worked alongside a rising African clergy and leadership. JEAN LUC ENYEGUE, SJ is the Director of the Jesuit Historical Institute in Africa, Nairobi. He also lectures on church history at Hekima University College, Catholic University of Eastern Africa. Explore l'impact des missions jésuites sur le développement du christianisme dans l'Afrique française postcoloniale, qui s'est trouvée au centre de changements et de luttes majeurs au sein du christianisme mondial et de la politique mondiale. À une époque où la plupart des pays africains se dirigeaient vers l'indépendance, le Vatican accélérait le programme d'indigénisation de l'Église afin d'assurer sa survie en Afrique subsaharienne. Dans le même temps, le nationalisme africain était en pleine expansion et, après l'effondrement de son empire colonial, la France tentait de réaffirmer son influence en Afrique. Ce livre montre comment le Vatican, les jésuites français, le clergé et les dirigeants autochtones camerounais en pleine ascension, ainsi que les premiers jésuites camerounais, se sont disputés l'évangélisation catholique de l'Afrique française au milieu du 20e siècle. Sur le terrain de la mission, ils étaient également en concurrence avec différents groupes protestants, avec lesquels ils partageaient un objectif commun : convertir au Christ les religieux traditionnels africains et différents groupes de musulmans africains, tout en contenant la propagation d'idéologies antireligieuses telles que le communisme. Retraçant l'expansion rapide du christianisme en Afrique centrale et occidentale française au cours de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle, l'auteur montre dans ce livre comment cette compétition pour la foi a contribué à la fois à construire l'église en Afrique occidentale française et à africaniser l'église aux côtés du christianisme missionnaire en Afrique postcoloniale. Il explore également les réactions africaines à ce programme mondial de christianisation diversifié et concurrent, en particulier après que le Tchad et le Cameroun aient été réunis au sein d'une seule juridiction jésuite en 1973, et la manière dont, malgré des interprétations différentes de la catholicité qui ont généré des conflits internes, les jésuites occidentaux, en se concentrant sur les masses populaires et les pauvres, ont pu contenir la propagation de l'islam, contrer la persécution des chrétiens par le Tchad pendant la Révolution culturelle (1973-1975) et assurer la survie du christianisme en tant que mouvement missionnaire dans lequel les missionnaires occidentaux ont travaillé aux côtés d'un clergé et de dirigeants africains en pleine ascension "At a time when most African countries were moving towards independence and African nationalism was on the rise, the Vatican speeded up the Church's indigenization agenda in an effort to secure its survival in sub-Saharan Africa. Following the collapse of its colonial empire, France was also attempting to reassert its influence on the continent. This book reveals how different Catholicities (the Vatican and different Jesuit missions) and different Christianities (Roman Catholicism and different Protestant missions) competed for the evangelization of French Africa during the mid-20th century. They shared a common aim: to conver African Traditional Religionists and different groups of Muslims to Christ, and to contain the spread of Communism and other areligious ideologies. Showing how this competition for faith helped build the Church in French West Africa and Africanize the church alongside missionary Christianity in a postcolonial Africa, Enyegue also explores the reaction of a rising African clergy and leadership to this diverse and competing global agenda of Christianization, especially after Chad and Cameroon became members of the Jesuit Vice-Province of West Aftrica in 1973."