Catholic Women of Congo-Brazzaville: Mothers and Sisters in Troubled Times

Catholic Women of Congo-Brazzaville explores the changing relationship between women and the Catholic Church from the establishment of the first mission stations in the late 1880s to the present. Phyllis M. Martin emphasizes the social identity of mothers and the practice of motherhood, a prime concern of Congolese women, as they individually and collectively made sense of their place within the Church. Martin traces women's early resistance to missionary overtures and church schools, and follows their relationship with missionary Sisters, their later embrace of church-sponsored education, their participation in popular Catholicism, and the formation of women's fraternities. As they drew together as mothers and sisters, Martin asserts, women began to affirm their place in a male-dominated institution. Covering more than a century of often turbulent times, this rich and readable book examines an era of far-reaching social change in Central Africa.

Author: Phyllis M. Martin
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 02/06/2009
Pages: 280
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.10w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780253220554

Review Citation(s):
Chronicle of Higher Education 03/13/2009 pg. 20
Choice 10/01/2009

About the Author

Phyllis M. Martin is Professor Emeritus of History at Indiana University Bloomington. She is editor (with Patrick O'Meara) of Africa (IUP, 1995) and author of Leisure and Society in Colonial Brazzaville.