A Roman Catholic priest in Ecuador was killed when a heavy crucifix and a statue of Jesus Christ fell from the wall behind an altar and struck him during a livestreamed Mass, church officials said. Patricio Alfredo Sánchez Molinari died on Saturday at the Church of Perpetual Relief in Guayaquil, a coastal city in southwestern Ecuador, approximately 265km from the capital, Quito. He was the parish priest at the church.
Footage of the service showed the religious objects suddenly detaching from the wall and falling directly onto Sánchez as he addressed the congregation. The accident occurred about 27 minutes into the livestream, according to reports describing the video. Facing the worshippers, the priest appeared not to notice the objects falling behind him before the crucifix struck the back of his head. He did not stand up again after the impact.
Worshippers reacted with screams and cries as several people rushed towards the priest to help him. The livestream continued to broadcast the commotion, with people heard shouting, “Father, Father! Call an ambulance!” before the transmission cut out. Emergency services were immediately called to the church, but medical personnel were unable to save him, according to reports of the incident.
The footage circulated widely on social media before it was taken down, NBC News reported. Its recording of the accident captured the congregation’s immediate response and the urgent calls for medical assistance. Local authorities had not initially issued a public comment on the death, and the precise circumstances that caused the religious objects to fall remained unclear.
The church said the reason for the accident had not been established. A possible fault in the wall fitting used to secure the large crucifix was suspected, while local authorities were reported to be investigating what caused both the crucifix and the statue to fall. No definitive technical finding had been announced, leaving the suspected problem with the fixture unconfirmed.
The Archdiocese of Guayaquil announced Sánchez’s death in a statement, saying he “has left to the House of the Father to enjoy his presence and glory”. The archdiocese also scheduled a Eucharist in his memory for Sunday evening.
Sánchez belonged to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a Roman Catholic religious order founded in 1732 that has a presence in 80 countries, according to the Associated Press. His death occurred during a service being broadcast beyond the church, with the livestream recording the fatal accident and the congregation’s attempts to assist him.
The circumstances of the incident drew additional attention because Sánchez had reportedly been speaking about death, faith and the importance of family shortly before the crucifix fell. According to the New York Post, he had urged worshippers not to spend excessive time scrolling on their mobile phones and instead to devote more attention to God and their loved ones.
“One day, all of us here will also die, and sometimes the time we’ve spent on things doesn’t have as much meaning as the time we spend with God,” he told the congregation, according to the newspaper.
He also spoke about the value of relationships with family members and fellow worshippers. “The quality time we give to God, to our brothers and sisters, to our husbands, wives, children, and family—that time is the best spent,” he said.
Reports said Sánchez was beginning another prayer and asking God to bless the congregation when the crucifix fell. His remarks formed part of a sermon urging worshippers to give greater importance to their spiritual lives rather than worldly distractions. The available accounts did not establish whether the priest or anyone else had noticed a problem with the crucifix before the accident.
The fatal incident follows other reported cases in which religious structures or architectural ornaments have caused deaths. In 2014, a 21-year-old man died and his friend was injured after they were crushed by a crucifix erected in honour of Pope John Paul II in northern Italy. The same year, a mother of two died in Chicago, in the United States, after a stone gargoyle fell three storeys from an old church and struck her while she was walking with her fiancé.
Those incidents involved different circumstances, and no connection between them and the accident in Guayaquil was established. In Sánchez’s case, the investigation into the falling crucifix and statue was intended to determine how the objects became detached from the church wall, while the archdiocese confirmed plans for the memorial Eucharist following the priest’s death.
