PRIEST KILLED BY FALLING CRUCIFIX DURING LIVESTREAMED MASS
A priest in Ecuador was killed by a falling crucifix during a livestreamed Mass, and the cameras were rolling.
Father Patricio Alfredo Sánchez Molinari was celebrating Mass at Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro Church in Guayaquil on October 17, 2026, when a large wooden crucifix came off a wall and fell on him, NBC News reported.
Just before it happened, he was preaching about death. The New York Post quoted him telling the congregation: “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 went on to say that “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.”
IBTimes UK reported the crucifix fell about 27 minutes into the broadcast.
It struck Sánchez Molinari and knocked him down. Reports describe the blow as landing on his head or the back of his head.
Congregants screamed and rushed to help him, and the livestream captured their response. First responders went to the scene, but he was declared dead that day, the Post reported. NBC News reported the video was later taken down.
The Archdiocese of Guayaquil confirmed his death and identified him as parish priest of Perpetuo Socorro in the Central Vicariate. “We announce that our beloved Father Patricio Alfredo Sánchez Molinari, who served as parish priest of the Perpetual Help church in the Central Vicariate, has departed to the Father’s House to enjoy His presence and His glory,” the archdiocese said in its statement.
Cardinal Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera confirmed the death, the Post reported. Teleamazonas reported the archdiocese also expressed solidarity with his family and friends.
Sánchez Molinari belonged to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as the Redemptorists. Teleamazonas described him as originally from Cuenca.
He had earlier served for several years at San Lorenzo Parish in Vinces, in Los Ríos province, where parish leaders mourned him, the Post reported.
The cause of the crucifix coming loose has not been publicly established.
The community held a wake and Mass for Sánchez Molinari at the church where he died on October 18, 2026, Teleamazonas reported.
