African Catholic: Decolonization and the Transformation of the Church

Format: Hardcover Language: English ISBN: 0674987667 ISBN13: 9780674987661 Release Date: March 2019 Publisher: Harvard University Press Length: 384 Pages Weight: 1.70 lbs. Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.1" x 9.3" A groundbreaking history of how Africans in the French Empire embraced both African independence and their Catholic faith during the upheaval of decolonization, leading to a fundamental reorientation of the Catholic Church. African Catholic examines how French imperialists and the Africans they ruled imagined the religious future of French sub-Saharan Africa in the years just before and after decolonization. The story encompasses the political transition to independence, Catholic contributions to black intellectual currents, and efforts to alter the church hierarchy to create an authentically "African" church. Elizabeth Foster recreates a Franco-African world forged by conquest, colonization, missions, and conversions--one that still exists today. We meet missionar