The Archdiocese of Guayaquil announced his death. Reverend Patricio Alfredo Sanchez Molinari, a priest in Ecuador , died on Saturday after a crucifix fell on him during a livestreamed Mass.
The church is also called Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Mass was livestreamed, but the video was later taken down. The video showed a large crucifix hanging on a wall behind Molinari suddenly falling forward onto the back of his head. Molinari was behind the altar, facing the congregation, and did not see the crucifix falling behind him. He did not stand back up. Parishioners can be heard shrieking and crying on the video, and some rushed to help him. The cross, which was fixed in the wall behind him, came loose and fell on him around the 27th minute of the broadcast.
He was the parish priest at the Church of Perpetual Relief of the Central Vicariate, the archdiocese said, according to NBC News. Citing El Heraldo de Mexico, he was leading the daily Mass, which was shown live from his own profile, according to La Vanguardia . The archdiocese said in a news release that Molinari “has left to the House of the Father to enjoy his presence and glory,”
The archdiocese posted a notice on its social media accounts on the same day, signed by Cardinal Archbishop of Guayaquil Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera. The official statement does not give the cause of death. It also does not say whether he died right away or after getting medical care. The parish he led is named after a Marian devotion that is closely linked to the Redemptorists, as per La Vanguardia.
Molinari belonged to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, founded by Saint Alphonsus Liguori in 1732. In 1866, Blessed Pius IX gave them the care of the original icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which is honored in the Roman church of Saint Alphonsus, on the Via Merulana.
The statement said Molinari “has passed away and gone to the House of the Father to enjoy His presence and glory. It added that the archdiocese joins “in prayer for the eternal rest of his soul” and shared its solidarity, affection, and love “to the Redemptorist family, his relatives, and friends.
