Catholic church and regional governance in west Africa.

The article examines "Catholic regionalism" in West Africa, focusing on how the Catholic Church, through the Regional Catholic Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA), influences regional governance and policy within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). This regionalism emerges as a strategic response to four factors: interfaith competition for influence, shrinking domestic political space for civil society organizations (CSOs), desecularization pressures, and ECOWAS reforms granting limited CSO access to regional policymaking. Employing the concept of "fateful compromise," the church navigates a middle path between co-optation and confrontation with states, enabling RECOWA to advocate on issues such as peace, security, development, and environmental concerns. The study contributes to the "new regionalism" literature by highlighting the role of faith-based actors in regional governance and challenging assumptions that elite co-optation is the sole mode of church–state collaboration in Africa.