In Cameroon, a Catholic movement fueled women’s lib

While in the West the Catholic Church is sometimes faulted for treating women as second-class citizens, in the African nation of Cameroon the Catholic movement known as the Focolare is credited with being the driving force behind women's emancipation and empowerment.



Pilgrims from a Cameroon chiefdom at the General Audience in St. Peter's Square, Sept. 21, 2016. (Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.)

Inés San MartínSeptember 22, 2016
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

ROME-In the West, the Catholic Church often can be seen as “oppressive” towards women because it doesn’t allow female ordination, and because there are relatively few women in senior decision-making positions.

Yet in other parts of the world, including the Bangwa people in Cameroon, if it weren’t for the Church, women would still belong in the kitchen.

The change in attitudes came thanks to the apostleship of a figure who’s widely considered one of the most powerful women within the Church in the 20th century: Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare, a lay movement that arrived in Cameroon in the 1960s when a local bishop told her during the Second Vatican Council that they needed help.

“Before Chiara arrived, women were considered nothing, many didn’t even dare to speak in front of men. But with her coming, they were emancipated, sharing their experiences to others without having to bend down as if they weren’t worth it,” said Mafua Christina Fontem.

https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2016/09/22/cameroon-catholic-movement-fueled-womens-lib/

http://www.focolare.org/usa/