Fabien Eboussi Boulaga: Renown Theologian, Human Rights Activist Dies At 84

Cameroon-born Roman Catholic Theologian and renown Philosopher, Fabien Eboussi Boulaga is no more.

The Human Rights Advocate died this Saturday at the age of 84 after spending two weeks at the Jourdain Clinic in Yaounde.

Eboussi Boulaga is a known polemic figure in Cameroon especially after publishing two books: “Bantou Problematique” in 1968 and “La Démission” in 1974 which caused an outcry in the ecclesiastical circles and called for the organised departure of missionaries.

Three years later, he published “La Crise du Muntu” which tackled questions of authenticity and tradition, a particularly fashionable topic in the 1970s.

In 1980, he decided to leave the Jesuits and asked to return to secular life. His departure from sacerdotal and religious life was the product of a carefully matured decision after he claimed to have “lost his faith” since 1969.

A year after he left priesthood, he published “Christianisme sans fétiche”, which questions the dogmatic and metaphysical assumptions of Catholicism in a colonial context.

Eboussi Boulaga has a Bachelors in Theology from the University of Lyon, and a Doctor of Philosophy and of Letters, and was a teacher in Abidjan, then professor at the University of Yaoundé.

In the 1980s, Boulaga became active in associations for the defence of human rights. He published works, first on theology, and then on politics. Since 1994, he has been a professor at the Catholic University of Central Africa.