Financial Strategies And Growth Of Meta Religious Organizations; Case Of The Roman Catholic Church In Cameroon

Our research focuses on the diversity and dynamism of the Catholic religious Meta organization in a sub-Saharan African country: Cameroon. The article focuses in particular on the specificities of the financial and growth strategies of religious meta-organizations. The Catholic Church can be conceived as a Meta Meta organization, in that the organizations composing it, which are the national episcopal conferences, are themselves members of the regional episcopal conferences which are Meta organizations, which are also members of continental episcopal conferences which are still Meta organizations, which are finally members of the Roman Curia which is the institution governing the Meta Meta organization. This meta-meta-organization has a theocratic character. The Roman Curia influences the management of the national Meta organizations and there are internal sanction mechanisms for individuals administering the regional or local national Meta organizations. The Catholic Meta Meta organization is certainly externally legally responsible but only individually (by the individuals who compose it) reprehensible. The growth dynamic is both internal through the creation of new religious institutes and external through the creation of new dioceses. The main indicator of growth of the Catholic Church is not financial or economic performance, but the number of converts and new establishments. The financial strategy is an associative financial strategy aiming at financial balance based essentially on collection and hoarding for operation. Financing is done essentially by self-financing, which corresponds to the growth phase of creation; either by a local collection from the faithful, or by internal financing specific to the Church, through ecclesiastical financing channels. This work promises contributions to the analysis of meta-organizations on the one hand but also to the managerialization of the Church on the other hand.