The death of Father Patricio Alfredo Sánchez Molinari on October 17, 2026, was recorded on a Facebook livestream he was conducting from Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro church in Guayaquil. The Redemptorist priest, parish priest of the church in the Centro vicariate, was celebrating Mᴀss when, roughly twenty-seven minutes into the broadcast, a heavy wooden crucifix mounted on the wall behind the altar came loose and fell onto him as he faced the congregation. He had been speaking about the brevity of life and the importance of time spent with God and loved ones. Shouts of “Father, Father, call an ambulance” were audible before the stream cut off. Parishioners sought medical help immediately.

He died soon after the impact. The Archdiocese of Guayaquil issued a statement signed by Cardinal Luis Cabrera Herrera confirming that the fifty-two-year-old priest had pᴀssed away and offering prayers for the eternal rest of his soul along with condolences to his religious community and family. The statement itself did not specify the cause. Ecuadorian media, including Metro Ecuador and El Comercio, reported that the archdiocese confirmed the timeline to reporters and indicated that the exact reason the cross detached had not yet been determined while an investigation continued. National Police preliminarily ᴀssessed the death as accidental from the impact of a heavy object.

Because the incident was captured on livestream, prosecutors could open a review on their own initiative to establish whether any form of culpable responsibility applied; a technical examination of the mounting structure was expected. The original livestream was later removed, but clips circulated widely and were examined by international outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, and others that verified the footage. Father Sánchez Molinari was born in Cuenca in 1973, professed as a Redemptorist in 2000, and was ordained in 2005. He had served in multiple Ecuadorian locations before Guayaquil and was known for promoting Eucharistic devotion. The day before his death the archdiocese had acknowledged another year of his priesthood.

In the following days his body was returned to Cuenca for burial. Family members publicly asked that the circumstances of the cross’s fall be clarified. The Archdiocese stated that inspections of churches were being conducted and that results of the specialist review of the Perpetuo Socorro church would be shared once available. The combination of the priest’s recorded words on mortality, the sudden mechanical failure of the crucifix, and the public nature of the livestream turned a local parish tragedy into a widely reported event while the formal inquiry into the cause remained ongoing.