CORPS CACHÉS, VOIX ABSENTES : EXPÉRIENCE DE DIEU ET VULNÉRABILITÉ PSYCHIQUE EN CONTEXTE RELIGIEUX AFRICAIN
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) December 22, 2025 Tcheufang Simeu Madeleine Armelle, Ntjam Marie-Chantale
Nuns in sub-Saharan Africa experience a paradox where intense religious practice, while a source of resilience, also creates hidden psychological vulnerability. The proposed model 'Hidden Bodies, Absent Voices' explains how the ideal of perfection in consecrated life forces the ascetic body to mask pain as sacrifice and represses speech in the name of obedience, generating inner violence and identity fragmentation. This concealment is reinforced by African socio-cultural factors: religious patriarchy, community cohesion (Ubuntu), and the sanctification of renunciation transform clinical distress into spiritual virtue. The article advocates for a 'clinic of recognition' to restore visibility of the body, create safe spaces for exchange, and integrate acceptance of fragility into religious structures.