SCIENTIST TO THE POOR

 

VENERABLE FATHER CARLO CRESPI CROCI was an amazing man of many talents, known not only for his love and care of the poor people of Ecuador, but also for science in  botany and archaeology.

This Salesian Society of St. John Bosco priest was born in Legnano, near Milan, Italy in 1891. He was the third of 13 children in a wealthy and influential family. He attended the local school and at the age of 12 started school with the Salesians. It was here that he met Renato Ziggiotti, his classmate and future successor of St. John Bosco. Sensing a call to Salesian life, he completed his novitiate in Foglizzo and made final profession in 1907. In 1917, he was ordained a priest.

 It was during this period that he deepened his study of theology and philosophy and taught mathematics, music, and natural sciences. At the University of Padua, he discovered  the existence of an unknown microorganism, becoming known in scientific circles for this important discovery. In 1921, he received a doctorate in natural sciences, with a specialization in botany, and shortly afterward a degree in music.

 It is 1923 he left for Ecuador as a missionary. He first landed in Guayaquil, reaching Quito, but finally settled in Cuenca, where he would remain until his death. He opened an institute of education, a primary school for poor children, a college for Salesians, sewing workshops for young women and a museum, famous for its many scientific exhibits. He received the gold medal of merit from the president of Ecuador and also was honored by the Italian government. In 1938, he organized the First Diocesan Eucharistic Congress in Cuenca.

 The last years of his life were spent in the confessional, where the faithful follow one another in long lines, eager to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation, but at the same time advice and comfort from the man they did not hesitate to call “Saint Charles Crespi.” He was always among the poor and on Sunday afternoons he taught catechism to street children giving them their 'daily bread' as well as a time to enjoy themselves.

Wearied by a life of hardship chosen to live as a poor man among his poor, on April 30, 1982, after asking for the last time to have the crucifix in his hands, the Venerable died in the “Santa Inés” Clinic in Cuenca from bronchopneumonia and a heart attack. 

He was declared “most illustrious citizen of Cuenca of the 20th century", and all Ecuador wept at the death of a true and holy son of Don Bosco.