African Catholic clergy are increasingly finding themselves on the frontlines of Vatican efforts to campaign against religious violence, political corruption and fraud on the continent.
The Church in Africa "opened strongly to democratisation in the 1990s" and "still has a major role to play on human rights and economic justice," Mario Giro, Africa expert at the influential Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, told AFP.
But while the prestige of Africa prelates can sometimes make them a powerful challenge to dictatorships, their role often seems like a "mission impossible," Togolese Father Ballong Wen Mewuda from Vatican radio African service told AFP.
"The bishop has to be a voice for the voiceless and tell all of society what is wrong. The generation of current bishops is more conscious of this, but the issues are often more complex than after the independence movements," he said.
From Nigeria to the Democratic Republic of Congo, from Senegal to Burkina Faso, bishops have taken on important roles in recent weeks.
The Archbishop of Lagos Anthony Okogie has stressed that the current internecine conflict in Nigeria is not a war of religion and has instead criticised the government for its weakness and its poor economic policies.
In Democratic Republic of Congo, Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo has been contesting since December the conditions for the elections won by Joseph Kabila saying they "conformed neither to truth nor to justice."
The DRC's conference of bishops in a message entitled "The Courage of Truth" called for the mistakes made in the presidential and parliamentary elections to be "corrected" without however calling for the high-risk vote to be scrapped.
In Senegal, Cardinal Adrien Sarr has criticised the government for not doing enough to promote peace in the troubled southern Casamance region which has seen a string of attacks by suspected separatists.
In Burkina Faso, the Archbishop of Ouagadougou Philippe Ouedraogo said the bishops were opposed to a revision of the constitution that would allow President Blaise Compaore to have another mandate.
In Cameroon, retired cardinal Christian Tumi, not followed by other bishops, denounced the corruption of the regime of President Paul Biya. In November, he received a prize for integrity from the group Transparency International.
Pope Benedict XVI in November called on bishops to press for peace, justice and reconciliation and to overcome ethnic divisions during a visit to Benin in which he also met with children afflicted by the AIDS virus.
The message, based on a synod of African bishops in 2009, was influenced by the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 where senior clergy were divided on ethnic lines and it stresses the important of non-partisan political engagement.
There have also been Vatican calls for African clergy to respect their vows.
Some clergymen lead luxurious lives and have been brought down by corruption and sex scandals, like the former archbishops of Cotonou and Bangui.
Ties to political power -- sometimes exacerbated by kinship or ethnic ties -- also mean a few can be manipulated and cease to be neutral players.
Gabon's bishops are often seen as too accepting of the rule of President Ali Bongo. In some countries, where local candidates are not deemed to be suitable, the Vatican has even sometimes named white missionary bishops.
In other countries like Ivory Coast, bishops seem very divided over constant political crises and the Vatican has struggled to come up with a clear line.
A source close to the Holy See told AFP on condition of anonymity: "Despite examples of courage, the average quality of bishops has plunged while the role of lay people has become more positive."
"They have discipline problems. The Vatican is cleaning up."