African Catholic: Decolonization and the Transformation of the Church
FAIN: FT-61405-14
Elizabeth Ann Foster
Tufts University (Somerville, MA 02144-2401)
Decolonizing Faith is an innovative book-length historical study that crosses borders between France and its sub-Saharan African colonies to highlight the complexity and diversity of Catholic positions on the future of French Africa from 1945 until 1965. It approaches the history of decolonization in French sub-Saharan Africa from an entirely new perspective by examining it through the prism of religion, and contributes to French history, African history, and religious studies. It brings to life a Franco-African Catholic world that had been forged by conquest, colonization, missions, and conversions. The denizens of this world, who included French missionaries in Africa, African Catholic students and intellectuals, young African clergymen, and French and African lay activists, were all preoccupied with the future of France’s African colonies, the place of Catholicism in Africa, and whether their personal loyalties should lie with the Vatican, France, or the emerging African states.