L'Eglise de Fa au Bénin

Abstract

The Church of Fa, named after the great traditional divinity of geomancy, was founded in the 1930s in Nigeria. It has attempted to resist the spread of Christianity by imitating the form of worship to which it attributes the other's success. Yet no Christian practices are introduced. Adherents worship exclusively the regional god Odumare or Olorun, through the intermediary of his representative Fa-Orunmila. Recruiting mostly among the poor milieux of peasant origin, the Church of Fa lacks the elites to ensure its defence and promotion among intellectuals and theologians. It was believed moribund. It has nonetheless survived. Its development seems to be conditioned by its capacity to respond to the social needs of its members with the same vigour as other Churches.