Catholic Church collapses in Mexico when a priest was about to enter

A Catholic church in the town of Tala, state of Jalisco (Mexico), collapsed on Saturday, June 29, at the exact moment when a priest was preparing to enter the temple. There were no deaths or injuries at the scene.

The San José Obrero parish had been affected by an earthquake in 2022, and Civil Protection had cordoned off the temple to prevent the entry of people, due to the appearance of cracks and structural damage in the place.

“Yesterday afternoon the parish of San José Obrero collapsed, in Tala, where hours before its inhabitants had reported the appearance of cracks to municipal civil protection,” he wrote this Sunday, June 30 in Facebook Enrique Alfaro Ramírezgovernor of the state of Jalisco.

“Thanks to the prompt reaction, the building was evacuated, the perimeter was protected and there were no human losses,” Alfaro said.

The governor also explained that, before the collapse, benches and various objects were removed from the church. “There was also no damage to the surrounding properties. At this time, work continues on debris removal,” he added.

Alfaro then expressed his most “sincere solidarity for the loss of one of his most beloved buildings” and thanked the Civil Protection workers “for their quick and effective response that saved lives in the face of this tragedy.”

The parish priest of San José Obrero speaks

Father Francisco Javier Montes Castillo, parish priest of San José Obreroreported that yesterday, at 9:00 am (local time), the demolition work on the temple began, in coordination with local authorities.

“The material damage to the temple was total and thank God there were no victims to regret, due to the preventive actions that were taken in good time, such as the cordoning off and closing of the place before the roof of our temple fell off,” said the priest. .

After thanking the expressions of solidarity, the parish priest reported that “notification has been given to our authorities in the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, through the Episcopal Vicariate of Señor Grande de Ameca, who are also aware of what happened and these work of demolition of the temple.”