A popular Tucson-area pastor was killed in a two-vehicle smash-up on Interstate 19 last Friday.

The Tucson Diocese revealed that 60-year-old Father Raul Valencia Garcia, the Pastor of Santa Monica Parish, was going to visit his family in Nogales when the accident occurred. He died instantly.

Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger said the news came as a shock to the pastor’s friends, family, and parishioners. He asked for prayers for all those affected.

Valencia Garcia was popularly known as the “World Shortest Pastor” and he spent many years in Nogales before heading to Tucson.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety said the crash occurred just before 8:15 a.m. near KM 78. It happened three kilometers north of another crash that happened earlier that morning. That single-vehicle crash involved a commercial truck.

Details are still sketchy regarding how Father Valencia Garcia’s accident occurred. However, it is understood that southbound traffic on I-19 in Sahuarita had stopped because of the other crash.

According to the Department of Public Safety, a driver who had come to a halt felt his vehicle shake and he saw a vehicle behind him going into the median.

DPS said there were no indicators that the driver tried to brake. The first driver was not injured.

The Diocese said Father Valencia Garcia became a priest after a career in dentistry. He served St Monica Parish from July 1, 2011, having previously served at St Jude Thaddeus in San Luis.

He was a Mexican native and leaves behind his mother Norma Garcia and five siblings.

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