Archbishop Coakley urges prayers after Oklahoma priest dies from fall through ceiling

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 22, 2025 / 14:59 pm (CNA).

Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley is requesting prayers from the faithful after an archdiocesan priest died after falling through the sacristy ceiling of his parish late last week.

Father Linh Bui, the pastor at St. Ann Catholic Church in Elgin, Oklahoma, died after suffering a severe brain injury caused by the fall, according to a Sept. 19 announcement by the archbishop posted to Facebook. Bui was 56 years old.

“It is with great sadness that I announce that Father Linh Bui passed away this morning from his injuries,” Coakley wrote.

Before his death, Bui received the sacrament of the anointing of the sick and the apostolic pardon, which grants an indulgence for the remission of temporal punishment for a person who dies in the state of grace.

According to the archbishop, Bui “was surrounded by the family who loved him dearly” when he succumbed to his injuries.

“Please pray for the repose of his soul,” Coakley wrote. “Funeral arrangements will be provided in the near future.”

“May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen,” the archbishop prayed.

According to a Facebook post from the parish, Bui was MedFlight evacuated to the Oklahoma University trauma center after the fall and immediately received surgery. Although “the medical teams did everything they could,” the parish stated “the severity of his brain injury from the fall was too great and no neurological interventions could be done.”

In addition to the brain injury, Bui also suffered chest trauma, a collapsed lung, and arterial bleeding. Doctors stabilized his body so his family could arrive to say their goodbyes and then halted the medical interventions.

One parishioner posted to Facebook that Bui was “one of the holiest people we were blessed to know,” adding: “We got to know him personally and he was the kindest, most humble and loving priest. May his soul rest in peace.”

“One of his last messages to me was to invite others to adoration, because he didn’t just want us to spend time with the Lord but also to bring others to him,” another parishioner wrote.

“That is exactly how he lived and what he taught,” she wrote. “He meant everything to my husband and me, and we will forever carry him in our hearts and in the way we walk with Jesus.”