Church-State relations in Cameroon's postcolony: the case of the Roman Catholic Church

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Periodical article

Title:	Church-State relations in Cameroon's postcolony: the case of the Roman Catholic Church
Author:	Konings, Piet
Year:	2007
Periodical:	Journal for the Study of Religion
Volume:	20
Issue:	2
Pages:	45-64
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Cameroon
Subjects:	Church and State Catholic Church
Abstract:	The sociopolitical role of mainline Christian churches in the African postcolony tends to be more complex than a number of pessimistic and optimistic scholars originally assumed. There is growing evidence that the relations between church leaders and authoritarian and corrupt elites, who seek to exercise hegemony in the African postcolonial States, cannot simply be reduced to either cooperation or conflict. This study of the relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the postcolonial State in Cameroon provides proof of a remarkable shift from relative harmony in the one-party era (1961-1990) to frequent conflicts in the current political liberalization era. It also shows that church leaders failed to come to a united stand on sociopolitical issues in both periods due not only to personal rivalries, but also to various ethno-regional cleavages. Bibliogr, notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]