Ecuador priest urges flock to cherish life, before being fatally struck by falling crucifix

• A priest in Guayaquil, Ecuador, died when a heavy crucifix fell on him during a livestreamed Mass at the Church of Perpetual Relief.
• Moments before the accident, Reverend Patricio Alfredo Sanchez Molinari urged people to value life, God and family, and not waste time on phones.
• The Archdiocese of Guayaquil confirmed his death, and the cause of the crucifix’s fall was not immediately clear.

A priest in Ecuador was killed when a crucifix fell from a wall and struck him during a livestreamed mass, just moments after he reflected on life and death in his sermon.

The Reverend Patricio Alfredo Sanchez Molinari died on Oct 17 at the Church of Perpetual Relief in Guayaquil, 265km south-west of Ecuador’s capital, Quito. He was the parish priest at the church.

A video of the livestreamed mass showed a heavy crucifix hanging on the wall behind the altar falling onto the back of the priest’s head. The priest was facing the congregation, with his back to the crucifix.

The footage circulated widely on social media before the original livestream was taken down.

“Father! Father! Call an ambulance,” horrified parishioners could be heard shouting before the live broadcast abruptly cut out.

Emergency responders were called to the church, and Molinari was pronounced dead that day. The Archdiocese of Guayaquil confirmed his death in a statement.

The archdiocese said Molinari “has left to the House of the Father to enjoy his presence and glory”.

The New York Post reported that moments before the fatal accident, Molinari had been urging his parishioners to make the most of their lives and spend more time with God and their loved ones.

He reflected on how precious every second was, as death could come at any time.

“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 was quoted as saying in his sermon.

He also urged worshippers not to waste their lives scrolling on their phones.

“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.

Molinari belonged to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a Catholic religious order commonly known as the Redemptorists.

Parish leaders at San Lorenzo Parish in Vinces, where he had served for several years, also mourned his death.

The cause of the crucifix’s fall was not immediately clear.

There have been other fatal incidents involving churches and religious monuments.

In 2014, a 21-year-old man was killed and his friend was injured when a crucifix erected in honour of Pope John Paul II fell on them in northern Italy.

That same year, a mother of two was killed in Chicago when a stone gargoyle fell three stories from an old church and struck her as she walked with her fiance.

In 2024, on Ash Wednesday, an 80-year-old woman died and at least 63 others were injured when the mezzanine of a church in Bulacan province, north of the Philippine capital Manila, collapsed.