The church where Father Patricio Sánchez was struck by a falling crucifix has held a memorial service beneath the empty space it left on the wall.
Sánchez lost his life during a livestreamed Mass in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on October 17. Since then, footage of the accident has traveled far beyond his congregation. So have claims about what caused it, including suggestions of demonic intervention.
Highlights
- Moments before a crucifix fell during Mass on October 17, Father Patricio Sánchez talked about how short life can be.
- Worshippers started spreading theories about the accident having been some form of judgement or demonic intervention.
- The congregation asked people to focus on Sánchez's work instead of speculating about the circumstances surrounding his passing.
His final words have also emerged, making the footage even more unsettling: moments before the cross fell, Sánchez Molinari spoke about how little time people have.
Church breaks silence after crucifix fatally crushes pastor
Sánchez Molinari was celebrating Saturday evening Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church when the wooden crucifix came away from the wall behind the altar. It struck him on the head as parishioners watched in horror both in person and online.
“One day, all of us here will also d*e,” Sánchez Molinari told the congregation. He urged them to make room for God and for the people close to them.
Moments later, the cross fell.
The livestream continued as worshippers rushed forward. A woman could be heard calling, “Father, Father… Call an ambulance!” The church later removed the original video from its page, but it was too late. It had already gone viral.
On October 18, people returned to the same church carrying flowers and dressed in black. At a morning Mass, Father Pedro spoke about the loss.
“We have to cry, to be sad,” he told them, according to Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo. “It isn’t easy, because we are human beings.”
He remembered Sánchez Molinari as a priest who visited the ill and stayed close to his parishioners. Then he addressed the elephant in the room: the cross falling during a religious service.
“The symbol of the cross fell on him. The symbol is not Christ; it is the cross,” Pedro said, having already heard rumors of the congregation against interpreting the accident as a religious judgment.
That evening, mourners gathered again.
Sánchez Molinari’s coffin rested before the altar, with the crucifix absent from the wall above it. Priests traveled from Vinces and Manta to join the parishioners filling the pews.
Auxiliary Bishop John Kwamevi Cudjoe led a memorial Mass after 7 pm and read condolences from Guayaquil’s archbishop, Cardinal Luis Cabrera Herrera. Messages had arrived from outside Ecuador, including from Cudjoe’s native Ghana.
“Patricio lived doing good and d*ed giving everything,” Cudjoe said, in translation.
A witness described a possible loose bolt, but the cause remains unknown
Sánchez Molinari was born in Cuenca in 1973. Before leading the Guayaquil parish, he had served for years at San Lorenzo de Vinces. That community also mourned him, recalling the care he had shown its parishioners.
At the October 18 memorial, Carmen Morán told El Universo she attended his Saturday Masses and had been inside the church when the crucifix fell. She believed it had been held by two bolts and that one had come loose.
Another attendee, identified by the newspaper as Andrea, said an ambulance arrived roughly 30 minutes after the accident.
In a message shared with photographs from the memorial, the parish thanked people around the world for their condolences and prayers. Clergy told parishioners they would continue to receive pastoral support.
On October 19, Sánchez Molinari’s body was taken from Guayaquil to his family’s home city of Cuenca. A service was scheduled there for that evening, with his burial planned for October 20 at Santa Ana cemetery.
Online claims of demonic interference drew a response from clergy
As footage of the accident spread, one X user claimed that Sánchez Molinari’s membership in the Redemptorist order meant he dealt with exorcisms. The user went further, suggesting “there was a demon he didn’t handle properly.”
There is no evidence, however, that Sánchez Molinari performed exorcisms. The Redemptorists describe their mission as preaching and serving people in need.
Sánchez Molinari’s parishioners gave examples of what that meant in Guayaquil.
Alexandra, a regular at the church, told El Universo on October 18 that he cared for people living nearby. She credited the parish with helping prevent the demolition of shelters across the street and said he also celebrated Mass at local schools.
Carmen Morán, who attended his Saturday services, said his words had “saved many people.”
His loss reached another church family in Cuenca. The city’s archdiocese offered condolences to Sánchez Molinari’s cousin Esteban Sánchez, who is also a priest.
For now, the wall behind the altar is bare.
"Freak accident." Viewers debated whether the incident had symbolic meaning
