Beninese priest collapses and dies during Sunday Mass
Father Eric Ahissou died suddenly while delivering his homily at the Notre-Dame de la Visitation parish in Cotonou, Benin, on 1 November 2026, leaving parishioners and the Catholic community in mourning.
The Catholic Church in Benin is in mourning after a parish priest died suddenly during morning Mass on Sunday, 1 November 2026. Father Eric Ahissou, curé of the Notre-Dame de la Visitation parish in Gbédagba, Cotonou, collapsed in the middle of the service, according to available reports. He was delivering his homily to the faithful when he lost consciousness and died.
The Beninese daily Le Défi Média reported that the priest suffered a sudden malaise during the office and died in front of his congregation. The report describes the priest as curé of the parish within the archdiocese of Cotonou, and states that he lost his life while addressing the faithful through his homily. The sight of a pastor dying during worship has left parishioners, fellow priests and Catholics across the country in deep distress. The precise circumstances of the death have not been detailed so far.
Father Ahissou was born on 6 June 1978 and was 48 years old at the time of his death. He received priestly ordination on 4 August 2010 and had devoted more than fifteen years of his life to the service of the Church. His role as pastor of a parish in the archdiocese of Cotonou made him a familiar figure to the community he served, and his death occurred in the presence of the people he had been ministering to.
The authorities of the Archdiocese of Cotonou are expected to communicate soon on the arrangements for the funeral. No further information about the cause of death or the date of the ceremonies had been published at the time of reporting, and the diocese has not yet issued a detailed statement on the circumstances.
The death comes only a year after another loss that remains fresh for the Beninese Church. Bishop Barthélemy Adoukonou died on 27 October 2025, and the community has not yet fully recovered from that bereavement. Two prominent deaths within roughly a year have deepened the sense of grief among Catholics in the country, and many believers are now facing the loss of a second church figure in quick succession.
For the faithful of Gbédagba, the Sunday morning Mass that should have ended in ordinary prayer has become a moment of collective shock. Reports published on the day underline the emotional weight of the event: a priest who had served the parish for years died before the eyes of those who came to pray with him. Church communities in such situations typically gather for vigils and prayers in the days that follow, and the diocese is expected to set out the funeral programme once its arrangements are confirmed.
Source: auxnouvelles.tg
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