«We collected some earth soaked in Father Crépin’s blood. This land will be preserved here in the parish and a portion will be given to his family. Let us live this moment with faith and hope: that Father Crépin’s sacrifice may bear fruits of peace for all.”
With these words, the bishop of Bangassou (Central African Republic) Aurelio Gazzera gave his final farewell to Father Crépin Martial Monga Hadassi, 30-year-old diocesan priest killed last June 29 in the parish of Zémio, where he was deputy parish priest. Ordained five years ago, Father Crépin was very committed to a work of dialogue and pacification in this south-eastern region of Central Africa, which continues to be marked by strong tensions and conflicts. «In this context, talking about peace is truly a gamble and a dream, but we must continue to dream and hope – underlines Bishop Gazzera, a barefoot Carmelite, who became bishop of Bangassou last 24 June, after two years as coadjutor and after more than thirty as a missionary in what is one of the poorest and most troubled countries in Africa -. Of course it is a very hard moment, but we don’t want this death, this killing to be useless; we want Father Crépin’s sacrifice to also give meaning to the hundreds of people who are killed here continuously, and to all those who have suffered, lost their lives, lost everything.”
The suffrage prayer and burial of Father Crépin Martial Monga
The killing of Father Crépin profoundly affected the community of Bangassou. Why was he killed?
«Father Crépin was a young priest, who for the last two years was here in Zémio, where in addition to his work as a parish priest he was very committed to dialogue and peace. Much of his time was dedicated precisely to this: he tried to maintain contact with the various rebel groups that are present in this territory and in recent months he was working to lay the foundations for a dialogue that would involve the various parties. In this area of Central Africa, in fact, the war has intensified for more than a year. Just two weeks ago, Father Crépin left to raise awareness in some villages. The strange thing is that the authorities evade any questions and this is worrying. So there were probably many people interested in eliminating him for his work in search of peace.”
What void does he leave not only as a priest but also as a point of reference for the population?
«When we learned of his killing, our thoughts immediately went to this community which for a long time has been experiencing a real ordeal with continuous clashes between gangs. And, as always, those who lose the most are the civilian population. Two weeks ago there were clashes between Russian soldiers and Central African soldiers and a young pregnant woman died. Father Crépin, together with the parish priest, has welcomed thousands of displaced people in recent months. In this context, his killing seems, on the one hand, to be a warning to him, to the Catholic Church and to all those who in one way or another are committed to peace; on the other hand, however, it certainly represents a tragic moment for the people who see themselves abandoned even by those few who remain to defend them. His killing has thrown many into despair. Precisely for this reason, with my presence here, with the funeral celebrated in Bangassou, and the Saturday morning Mass in Zémio, I wanted to give a strong message to try to give courage and push back a little on this discouragement. In the homily I said that Father Crepin was killed, but she was not killed and we must not let the hope of peace die.”
As mentioned, the murder occurred in a context of great insecurity. How is the situation in the Bangassou region today?
«Here we are on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, lands that have been the scene of clashes for more than twenty years and have seen the presence of very dangerous militias. We had for a long time the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army, who had come here from Uganda with their terrible leader Joseph Koni. Only a couple of years ago the last children kidnapped and transformed into soldiers had been freed, so there was already a situation of great suffering. Added to this was the arrival of the Seleka, the rebel group that took power in Bangui in 2014; they too have brought death and destruction for a long time. Three years ago, young people in the region organized themselves into self-defense militias and managed to drive out some of these rebels from some cities, something that neither the state nor the peacekeepers were able to do. Theirs was a popular initiative started from the bottom, which managed to obtain some results. At that point the government decided to give them some training and include them in the army together with the Russians; However, as often happens in these initiatives, there was a lot of enthusiasm at the start, then the beautiful promises were forgotten and the integration did not take place. In the last year, some elements of this group were invited to the capital, then arrested and many of them have gone missing, so they were probably killed. In May 2025, upon yet another arrest of some elements of their group, these young people attacked both the army and the Russian allies and therefore disaster struck again.”
Your missions have welcomed many people on the run.
«For months there have been thousands of people here at the mission, the schools have been almost closed for more than a year, many people have also fled to nearby Congo, where there is a refugee camp with at least 30-40 thousand people originally from Zémio. We are practically in the midst of a war that has dragged on, with ups and downs, for many years, but this last period has been truly very difficult. Also for this reason I came here with the Platform of religious leaders, including the cardinal of Bangui Dieudonné Nzapalainga, the imam and a Protestant pastor, precisely to try to talk to all parties and try to find a solution”.
Monsignor Aurelio Gazzera, bishop of Bangassou
What responses do you expect from the Central African authorities after the killing of Father Crépin?
«In recent days, going to visit all the military and civil authorities, I told them that we are left with more questions than answers, even about the killing of our priest. We have been talking about dialogue for months, but the government army is very harsh and tries to avoid it in every way. As for the Russian military, who are in theory allies of the government, they often speak and act in its place, without the government having the courage to say anything. Plus there are the rebels. And so today we are essentially faced with a wall against a wall.”
Despite the pain and fear, you as the Church continue to remain close to the population. What message did he send to the faithful of Bangassou and the population of the area?
«We also prayed on Saturday morning, starting the Mass here in Zémio, in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. I remembered that the cross was also an absurd crime, a killing of an innocent person. But if the blood of Christ has saved all of us, we must pray that the blood of Father Crépin can also help us and guide us on the path to peace. At the end of the celebration we went to the place where he was killed, we prayed, we took some earth which is soaked in the blood of this priest and we want to preserve it for the Church and for his family. Furthermore, I wanted to celebrate both the funerals and the Mass with the color red, that of the martyrs. Clearly it is not a judgment on our part that anticipates the judgment of the Church, but it is an acknowledgment that a man lost his life, testifying to the Lord and testifying to the peace that the Lord wants to give us.”
