Overview

"The book masterfully knits together the various curves and routes traveled so far by the Catholic Church in Africa. From an African perspective, the book presents a general trajectory of Catholicism on the continent by highlighting some significant events and moments in the evolution of the Catholic Church in Africa. It equally profiles the Vatican's policy of indigenization as realized on the continent through the Africanization of the local episcopate. That policy prepared the way for the emergence of the local churches in Africa on the heels of the post-missionary phase that terminated with the convocation of the First African Synod of Bishops in 1994. Beyond the vicissitudes of the relatively recent past, the book boldly indicates the likely future shape and direction of African Catholicism. It contends that the future shape of the church in Africa may not be determined by a belabored inculturation, but instead by how the local churches concern themselves with concrete realities such as poverty, lack of opportunities, and ecological issues. It envisages a church that may not shy away from asserting itself within the mainstream ecclesiastical politics of global Catholicism where it must """"connect, compete and collaborate."""""

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9781666723663

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Reviews

Iheanacho highlights the turns and courses that the church took to reach its current status. The author's vision of the African church is a church that neither marginalizes herself nor shies away from discussing important issues and policies. This study, with its five chapters tracing the historical trajectories of contemporary Catholicism in Africa, will be of great benefit to a worldwide readership. --Paul B. Steffen, Pontifical Urbaniana University, Rome This new history of Catholicism in Africa by Valentine Iheanacho is an outstanding achievement. Based on solid historiographical research, with a sensitive antenna for theoretical shifts in scholarship, it tells a fascinating story. This is more than the past; it is history with an ethical concern about the role of African Christianity in today's world and for the global church. --Rian Venter, University of the Free State, South Africa A static church soon becomes irrelevant. In this book, Iheanacho takes the reader on a historic journey, outlining how the Catholic Church is continuously working on its contextual ministry on the African continent. This is an important publication for the church and Africa, especially as we face the most vital challenges on how we understand humanity, community, and the environment. --Wessel Bentley, Research Institute for Theology and Religion, University of South Africa Although the evangelization of Africa as a whole is a recent phenomenon, the Catholic Church has found fertile ground on the continent. Valentine Iheanacho's study highlights the Holy See's action aimed at the formation of solid local churches . . . and envisages a development for the African churches in conformity with their identity, capable of enriching the pluralism of the universal church. --Silvano Giordano, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome

Iheanacho highlights the turns and courses that the church took to reach its current status. The author's vision of the African church is a church that neither marginalizes herself nor shies away from discussing important issues and policies. This study, with its five chapters tracing the historical trajectories of contemporary Catholicism in Africa, will be of great benefit to a worldwide readership. --Paul B. Steffen, Pontifical Urbaniana University, Rome This new history of Catholicism in Africa by Valentine Iheanacho is an outstanding achievement. Based on solid historiographical research, with a sensitive antenna for theoretical shifts in scholarship, it tells a fascinating story. This is more than the past; it is history with an ethical concern about the role of African Christianity in today's world and for the global church. --Rian Venter, University of the Free State, South Africa A static church soon becomes irrelevant. In this book, Iheanacho takes the reader on a historic journey, outlining how the Catholic Church is continuously working on its contextual ministry on the African continent. This is an important publication for the church and Africa, especially as we face the most vital challenges on how we understand humanity, community, and the environment. --Wessel Bentley, Research Institute for Theology and Religion, University of South Africa Although the evangelization of Africa as a whole is a recent phenomenon, the Catholic Church has found fertile ground on the continent. Valentine Iheanacho's study highlights the Holy See's action aimed at the formation of solid local churches . . . and envisages a development for the African churches in conformity with their identity, capable of enriching the pluralism of the universal church. --Silvano Giordano, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome

"""Iheanacho highlights the turns and courses that the church took to reach its current status. The author's vision of the African church is a church that neither marginalizes herself nor shies away from discussing important issues and policies. This study, with its five chapters tracing the historical trajectories of contemporary Catholicism in Africa, will be of great benefit to a worldwide readership."" --Paul B. Steffen, Pontifical Urbaniana University, Rome ""This new history of Catholicism in Africa by Valentine Iheanacho is an outstanding achievement. Based on solid historiographical research, with a sensitive antenna for theoretical shifts in scholarship, it tells a fascinating story. This is more than the past; it is history with an ethical concern about the role of African Christianity in today's world and for the global church."" --Rian Venter, University of the Free State, South Africa ""A static church soon becomes irrelevant. In this book, Iheanacho takes the reader on a historic journey, outlining how the Catholic Church is continuously working on its contextual ministry on the African continent. This is an important publication for the church and Africa, especially as we face the most vital challenges on how we understand humanity, community, and the environment."" --Wessel Bentley, Research Institute for Theology and Religion, University of South Africa ""Although the evangelization of Africa as a whole is a recent phenomenon, the Catholic Church has found fertile ground on the continent. Valentine Iheanacho's study highlights the Holy See's action aimed at the formation of solid local churches . . . and envisages a development for the African churches in conformity with their identity, capable of enriching the pluralism of the universal church."" --Silvano Giordano, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome"

Author Information

Valentine Ugochukwu Iheanacho is a research fellow at the Department of Historical and Constructive Theology in the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Free State, Bloemfontein. He is the author of Maximum Illud and Benedict XV's Missionary Thinking: Prospects of a Local Church in Mission Territories (2015).

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