The Catholic Church has played an outsized role in many African civil societies. Amidst unstable and often unaccountable public institutions, and repressed and underfunded student, labor, and professional associations, the church is often the most legitimate and strongest institution capable of advocating for political, economic, and social justice. Surprisingly, however, scholarship on African church engagement in social struggles remains seriously constrained by the lack of accessible documentation. One example of this limitation is the difficulty in locating the primary way that Catholic Bishops in a specific country rapidly shape public opinion and mobilize their ranks: pastoral letters. Pastoral letters are official statements published by Bishops intended to provide moral guidance or instruction, which are read aloud at Sunday mass across the country, as well as on Catholic radio. Yet, despite the widely recognized significance of these statements, no digital or print archive of these documents exists, and the documents are rarely found within existing digital archival collections. The Pastoral Letters Project goals are to address this gap, aid in future research about the pivotal role that the Catholic Church continues to play in African history, and advance digital equity by preserving for posterity these influential documents.
The Pastoral Letters Project lays a foundation for new research agendas by allowing scholars to engage with pastoral letters in a comparative (cross-national) and contextualized manner that is currently impossible. For instance, the archive will allow scholars to search the full text of these comprehensive collections of pastoral letters to see which topics arise in different countries over time. For a scholar interested in church-based movements for environmental justice (an increasingly important focus of the church in Africa), or scholars of queer or women’s rights, this will be an extremely useful tool. Additionally, the full text letters allow theologians to systematically analyze religious justifications for certain civil and moral edicts. It also allows interpretive social scientists and scholars of rhetoric to analyze the audiences addressed in each letter and how the language used to discuss certain issues may change over time. Given the explosive rise of Charismatic (born again) Catholicism in recent decades, these documents also provide a critical tool to examine where, when, and how the church addresses or is influenced by charismatic beliefs, such as in prophecy, exorcism, and diving healing. To the best of my knowledge, few if any existing studies have tackled these questions not for lack of interest or relevance, but for lack of access to relevant source materials. It is my hope that future research will no longer be hindered by the absence of reliable access to such documentation.
To learn more about how the Pastoral Letters Project obtained pastoral letters please view Learn More: Partners and Programs.
What are Pastoral Letters?
“When Catholic bishops want to rapidly influence country-wide public opinion or mass action, they typically issue pastoral letters: formal statements collectively authored by the country’s bishops and disseminated to congregants and the media. Pastoral letters are intended to provide moral guidance or instruction on topics of societal importance. Although some letters address internal church matters, others ‘are written by the Church to communicate their position on certain critical societal issues’ (Jere and Magezi 2018, 3). It is up to each country’s collective body of Catholic bishops, known as an episcopal conference or conference of Catholic bishops, to decide when and why to write a pastoral letter. Priests are directed to read the letter aloud at the Sunday mass following the publication of any pastoral letter, and Catholic media outlets further disseminate its message. Pastoral letters related to national issues are commonly discussed and even excerpted in national media.
Of the various types of documents published by episcopal conferences and stand-alone bishops (e.g., statements, communiqués, or press releases), pastoral letters are the most powerful because they are collectively authored, carefully considered, and officially published only when they are read aloud in congregations across the country (Chunga and Tostensen 2020). This is not true of press releases or pastoral statements, which aim to address single issues concisely and may be signed only by the president or secretary general of the national episcopal conference on behalf of the country’s Catholic bishops. By contrast, pastoral letters are collectively authored and ‘produced after lengthy reflection on major events in society or in the anticipation of a major event, e.g., elections’ (Chunga and Tostensen 2020, 12).”
Sperber, Elizabeth, and Paige Wietzel. "Delivering Democracy? Comparing Catholic Bishops’ Advocacy for Democracy in Malawi and Zambia, 1987–2022". Journal of Religion in Africa 55.2 (2024): pp 9-10. target=_blank">https://doi.org/10.1163/15700666-12340309
The Pastoral Letters Project lays a foundation for new research agendas by allowing scholars to engage with pastoral letters in a comparative (cross-national) and contextualized manner that is currently impossible. For instance, the archive will allow scholars to search the full text of these comprehensive collections of pastoral letters to see which topics arise in different countries over time. For a scholar interested in church-based movements for environmental justice (an increasingly important focus of the church in Africa), or scholars of queer or women’s rights, this will be an extremely useful tool. Additionally, the full text letters allow theologians to systematically analyze religious justifications for certain civil and moral edicts. It also allows interpretive social scientists and scholars of rhetoric to analyze the audiences addressed in each letter and how the language used to discuss certain issues may change over time. Given the explosive rise of Charismatic (born again) Catholicism in recent decades, these documents also provide a critical tool to examine where, when, and how the church addresses or is influenced by charismatic beliefs, such as in prophecy, exorcism, and diving healing. To the best of my knowledge, few if any existing studies have tackled these questions not for lack of interest or relevance, but for lack of access to relevant source materials. It is my hope that future research will no longer be hindered by the absence of reliable access to such documentation.
To learn more about how the Pastoral Letters Project obtained pastoral letters please view Learn More: Partners and Programs.
What are Pastoral Letters?
“When Catholic bishops want to rapidly influence country-wide public opinion or mass action, they typically issue pastoral letters: formal statements collectively authored by the country’s bishops and disseminated to congregants and the media. Pastoral letters are intended to provide moral guidance or instruction on topics of societal importance. Although some letters address internal church matters, others ‘are written by the Church to communicate their position on certain critical societal issues’ (Jere and Magezi 2018, 3). It is up to each country’s collective body of Catholic bishops, known as an episcopal conference or conference of Catholic bishops, to decide when and why to write a pastoral letter. Priests are directed to read the letter aloud at the Sunday mass following the publication of any pastoral letter, and Catholic media outlets further disseminate its message. Pastoral letters related to national issues are commonly discussed and even excerpted in national media.
Of the various types of documents published by episcopal conferences and stand-alone bishops (e.g., statements, communiqués, or press releases), pastoral letters are the most powerful because they are collectively authored, carefully considered, and officially published only when they are read aloud in congregations across the country (Chunga and Tostensen 2020). This is not true of press releases or pastoral statements, which aim to address single issues concisely and may be signed only by the president or secretary general of the national episcopal conference on behalf of the country’s Catholic bishops. By contrast, pastoral letters are collectively authored and ‘produced after lengthy reflection on major events in society or in the anticipation of a major event, e.g., elections’ (Chunga and Tostensen 2020, 12).”
Sperber, Elizabeth, and Paige Wietzel. "Delivering Democracy? Comparing Catholic Bishops’ Advocacy for Democracy in Malawi and Zambia, 1987–2022". Journal of Religion in Africa 55.2 (2024): pp 9-10. target=_blank">https://doi.org/10.1163/15700666-12340309