{"id":376667,"date":"2026-10-19T07:24:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376667\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T07:24:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:24:45","slug":"priest-gave-sermon-on-spontaneity-of-death-just-before-falling-crucifix-killed-him-during-livestreamed-mass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376667\/","title":{"rendered":"Priest gave sermon on spontaneity of death just before falling crucifix killed him during livestreamed Mass"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Catholic priest who was killed by a falling crucifix over the weekend<\/a> in Ecuador had been giving a sermon about the fleeting nature of life just before the freak accident was caught live on camera. <\/p>\n

Father Patricio S\u00e1nchez Molinari, of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in southern Guayaquil<\/a>, was reflecting on the words of Jesus when he told his congregation they should not waste their lives scrolling on their phones and instead dedicate them to God and their loved ones. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne day, all of us here will also die, and sometimes the time we\u2019ve spent on things doesn\u2019t have as much meaning as the time we spend with God,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The moment the heavy crucifix fell onto the priest. Patricio Sanchez \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

\u201cThe quality time we give to God, to our brothers and sisters, to our husbands, wives, children, and family\u2014 that time is the best spent,\u201d Molinari added. <\/p>\n

The priest went on to ask God to bless his congregation as he began another prayer \u2014 when the giant crucifix behind him suddenly fell off the wall and landed on him.<\/p>\n

The shocking incident was caught on a livestream of the sermon, in which panicked members of the congregation could be heard screaming as they rushed to help the priest and call an ambulance.<\/p>\n

First responders reported to the scene, but Molinari was declared dead that same day, officials said.<\/p>\n

Priest Father Patricio Alfredo S\u00e1nchez Molinari died after a crucifix fell on him during Mass in Ecuador. Patricio Sanchez \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

Father\u00a0S\u00e1nchez\u00a0belonged to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a Roman Catholic religious order founded in 1732. Patricio Sanchez \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

Father\u00a0S\u00e1nchez\u00a0belonged to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a Roman Catholic religious order founded in 1732 with a presence in 80 countries.<\/p>\n

He served under the Archdiocese of Guayaquil, and Cardinal Archbishop Monsignor Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera confirmed his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe announce that our beloved Father Patricio Alfredo S\u00e1nchez Molinari, who served as parish priest of the Perpetual Help church in the Central Vicariate, has departed to the Father\u2019s House to enjoy His presence and His glory,\u201d the church said in a statement. <\/p>\n

He was also mourned at the San Lorenzo Parish of Vinces, in the Los Rios province, where he had served for several years, according to parish leaders. <\/p>\n

It remains unclear what caused the heavy crucifix to detach and fall from the wall, and church officials haven\u2019t publicly provided an explanation for the incident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Catholic priest who was killed by a falling crucifix over the weekend in Ecuador had been giving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4840,3307,1015,16567,318,9,11,10,1076],"class_list":["post-376667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-catholic-church","tag-churches","tag-deaths","tag-ecuador","tag-freak-accidents","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}