Jean-Marc Ela

Jean-Marc Ela (27 September 1936 – 26 December 2008) was a Cameroonian sociologist 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. 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. He was buried in his hometown of Ebolowa, Cameroon. 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. 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.