Jean-Marc Ela (27 September 1936 – 26 December 2008) was a Camerooniansociologist and theologian. Working variously as a diocesan priest and a professor, Ela was the author of many books on theology, philosophy, and social sciences in Africa. His most famous work, African Cry has been called the "soundest illustration" of the spirit of liberation theology in sub-Saharan Africa.[1] His works are widely cited as exemplary of sub-Saharan African Christian theology for their focus on contextualisation and their emphasis on community-centered approaches to theology.[2]
Jean-Marc Ela was born on 27 September 1936 in Ebolowa, in the African nation of Cameroon. The son of a middle-class family in southern Cameroon, Ela claimed that he first began to think of theology as a discipline that should be concerned with the local needs of believers while he was studying philosophy and theology in France at the University of Strasbourg in the 1960s.[3] He studied sociology at the University of Strasbourg as well as at the University of Sorbonne.
However, it was during his sixteen-year experience as a missionary working among the Kirdi of northwestern Cameroon that he developed and articulated most of the arguments in African Cry and My Faith as an African. He spent a great deal of his research and of his life beside Baba Simon, beloved minister to the Kirdis of the North Cameroon in Tokombéré. His thesis at Strasbourg was on the image of the cross in Luther's theology.
Ela was unique in that as a sociologist, he brought a social-science critique to his theology. As a theologian, he proved unorthodox not only in embracing social sciences but also in his penchant for studying topics that tested the boundaries of Catholic orthodoxy. As a missionary, he earned the respect and love of his community in Tokombere. As a professor, he was popular with students around the globe. He taught in Cameroon, Belgium, USA, Canada, Benin, France, and Congo, among other places.
A vocal critic of both ecclesiastical and political institutions, Ela entered voluntary exile in Quebec after the assassination of fellow Cameroonian priest Englebert Mveng in 1995. Ela resided in Montreal, where he served as professor of sociology at the University of Laval from 1995 until his death 26 December 2008, in Vancouver.[3]
For Jean-Marc Ela and his generation of postcolonial Christian intellectuals in Cameroon, achieving redemption and meaningful spirituality depended fundamentally on acknowledging the value of the everyday practices of pagan village life. This also provided a mechanism of vigilance against destructive external forces.[4]
African Cry and My Faith as an African, Ela's two most famous works, serve as an indictments of the Catholic Church for holding to a model of faith that ignores the needs of African people, especially those in poor and rural communities. Through an analysis of selected sacraments, missionary structures, and biblical hermeneutics, Ela identified ways in which the Catholic tradition subordinates Africans to a position of dependence vis-a-vis White Europeans. He countered these instances of oppression with opportunities for liberation based on the argument that the Gospel advocates for the restoration of dignity to marginalised people.
According to Ela, the only way to restore dignity to African peoples is to allow them to transform Christian traditions into forms that are familiar and useful to Africans. He argued that the Eucharist should be served with local rather than imported products. He believed that African churches should be self-funded. He also believed that biblical interpretation should be guided by a "shade-tree theology", in which small groups of believers can gather together to interpret the Gospel in the light of their own particular circumstances.[5]
Interspersed between his hard-hitting theological tones, Ela produced several volumes on social sciences in Africa. He was a science-minded researcher dedicated to opening a conceptual framework to encompass and address the knowledge and the needs of his countrymen. For example, he wrote in 2001 a guide emphatically explaining the imperative African researchers have to direct new research to meeting the basic needs of the population and not only to improve industrial production. Similarly, in several books published between 1998 and 2007, he showed the place of Africa in the world of rational science, and the necessity of high quality scientific work. In a book published in 2007, he tried to explain the inseparability of knowledge and power.
