Priest murdered at his home honored for tireless work toward peace and reconciliation
A Roman Catholic priest who spent years brokering peace among warring groups in the Central African Republic has been mourned by his bishop and community after he was shot dead near his home in the town of Zémio.
Gunmen attacked Father Crépin Martial Monga, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Zémio in the Diocese of Bangassou, as he was returning to his rectory, according to Catholic Herald. He was shot in the head and died instantly on Monday.
The attack occurred around 6:43 p.m. local time on the road linking a checkpoint of the Central African Armed Forces to the parish residence. A female parishioner traveling with him was hit in the neck and rushed to a hospital in Zémio, where she remains in critical condition and may require evacuation.
Bishop Aurelio Gazzera of Bangassou, who has 35 years of experience as a missionary in the country, said recovering the body was difficult and dangerous because of poor roads and armed fighters in the region, according to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.
As his body was carried back, crowds gathered along the route to pay their respects, and large numbers attended the burial. The bishop said the scenes moved him and reflected the affection local people held for the priest.
The bishop said the priest and his parish had at times sheltered more than 3,000 refugees. Monga maintained contacts with various rebel leaders and the authorities, working to mediate and resolve conflicts, the bishop said.
Authorities have not identified those responsible, and no group has claimed responsibility. The circumstances and motives remain unclear as investigations continue.
Zémio has been a dangerous area within an already unstable country for years, according to Aid to the Church in Need. Several armed groups have operated there for the past three decades, and in May 2025, a full-scale revolt against the government began. The town endured persistent clashes throughout 2025.
Targeted attacks by an armed group known as Azande Ani Kpi Gbe (AAKG) on members of the Fulani community displaced residents and killed civilians and United Nations peacekeepers.
The Catholic Church in the town gave refuge and humanitarian aid to civilians after an Azande militia attack in December 2025, which displaced more than 2,000 people, some of whom fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Sources on the ground told Aid to the Church in Need that the killing was intentional, and some in the diocese believe the priest may have been killed because of his peacemaking work.
Monga served on the Local Committee for Peace and Reconciliation, a body set up to promote dialogue among communities affected by conflict in Zémio. He had led the committee through the recent violence.
Bishop Gazzera urged his community not to lose heart.
“We must not allow this sacrifice to be in vain, we must continue with what he began,” he was quoted as saying.
Hours before his death, Monga had been carrying out pastoral duties. On Sunday, he baptized 175 candidates, including 160 displaced Christians from his parish who had been sheltered in the settlement of Zapay from June 27 to 29, Catholic Herald reports. On Monday morning, he accompanied the newly baptized to the banks of the Mbomou River, his final pastoral act before the attack that evening.
Mervyn Thomas, founding president of the United Kingdom-based advocacy organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide, called on authorities to investigate the priest’s death, bring those responsible to justice and send adequate resources to the region during the mourning period.
In a separate incident, three Zambian peacekeepers serving with the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) were injured in an attack on their base in Am Dafock, in Vakaga Prefecture, also on Monday. The town borders South Darfur in Sudan.
The attack was carried out by the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the Central African Republic, an armed group led by Noureddine Adam, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for atrocity crimes, and by the Democratic Movement for the Rallying of the Central African People, the group said.
Armed elements from over the border in Sudan, currently under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, reportedly joined them.
MINUSCA condemned the attack and noted that assaults on peacekeepers may constitute war crimes.
The CAR government said the situation in Am Dafock was under control, though national media reported that armed elements remained active in the area.
