L’église catholique romaine et la problématique des mutations socio- politiques dans la province ecclésiastique de Yaoundé (1955-2013)

Abstract

The present survey is an analysis of the insertion of the roman catholic church in the field of development. It aims at revealing that this institution works from the social, economic and human point of view in the ecclesiastical province of Yaoundé. The analysis carried out takes into account the dimension of socio-political mutations, such as the changes that have taken place in Yaoundé between 1955 and 2013. In other words, this work questions the strategies put in place by the Church as an institution in terms of salvific and social ends. By so doing, the encyclicals, apostolic exhortations, communiqués, directives and pastoral letters from the Roman Curia to the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon have enabled us to formulate a problem to know: what are the trajectories and strategies used by the Catholic Church to promote the dynamics and socio-political changes linked to development in the Ecclesiastical Province of Yaoundé over a period of 58 years. For this reason, we opted for interdisciplinarity which facilitated the confrontation of methodological data through a specific approach. This approach, which is both documentary and oral, allows us to understand that the target institution of the study has a vocation to be at the bedside of the population. To prove this, we used an interview guide with a semi-directive technique of comprehensive interviews. From then on, a central question arose: what are the political, social and economic strategies developed by the Yaoundé ecclesiastical province from 1955 to 2013? Based on this question, we formulated a methodological approach in six points, taking into account a comprehensive and diversified documentary review. Consequently, this work wanted to question, in six chapters, the history of the Archdiocese of Yaoundé, the social dimension, the praxis of the Church faced to the question of human rights, the pedagogy of this institution in front of political problems, the consequences of this institution and the balance sheet that emerges after 58 years. In fact, this analysis is part of the field of total history, taking into account diachrony, synchronicity and the theme as a model of intangibility.