Priest Dies After Large Cross Falls During Livestreamed Mass in Ecuador

[Financial News] A priest conducting Mass at a church in Guayaquil, Ecuador, was crushed to death when a large cross hanging on the wall behind him fell on him.
According to reports on the 18th (local time) by Argentine dailies Clarín and La Nación, among others, the accident occurred the previous afternoon at Perpetuo Socorro Church in the Ecuadorian coastal city of Guayaquil.
Father Patricio Alfredo Sánchez Molinari, the church’s parish priest, was conducting Mass when a large cross mounted on the wall behind the altar suddenly fell and struck him on the head.
Father Sánchez Molinari had regularly livestreamed Mass on Facebook Live, and he was broadcasting at the time of the accident. When the cross fell, worshippers at the scene screamed in shock at the sudden accident, and the scene was streamed as it happened.
The worshippers tried to help the priest, but he had suffered fatal, irreversible injuries from the impact of the heavy wooden structure.
The accident has also drawn attention to how the cross was installed and the safety of its fastenings. It was reported that an investigation would examine what caused the structure to fall and whether there were any defects in its supports to determine exactly how the accident happened.
After news of the priest’s death emerged, worshippers posted tributes on social media and expressed their condolences. Messages poured in from those who remembered him as an outstanding priest and a good friend, and wished him eternal rest in heaven.
In a statement, the Archdiocese of Guayaquil officially confirmed Father Sánchez Molinari’s death and expressed its deepest condolences to his bereaved family and the Redemptorist congregation to which he belonged.
Father Sánchez Molinari was a member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, founded by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori in 1732, and had served as parish priest at Perpetuo Socorro Church.
[email protected] Ahn Gaeul Reporter