'Rain' of birds in Mexico not an apocalyptic sign, priest notes

By David Ramos

Ciudad Cuauhtemoc, Mexico, Feb 18, 2022 / 17:00 pm

A recent video of a flock of blackbirds suddenly plummeting to the ground in Mexico should not be in any way taken as an apocalyptic sign, a priest has noted. 

The Feb. 7 video recorded in Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, in Mexico’s Chihuahua state, shows the flock falling down, and many of the birds not getting back up. 

Father Mario Arroyo, a a professor at the Pan-American University in Mexico City, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language sister news agency, Feb. 16 that while "the images are really chilling … going from there to seeing an apocalyptic image, a sign from heaven that warns us of the end of the world, is really quite a considerable acrobatic leap."

Before thinking of an apocalyptic sign, he said, “other types of causes” should be considered.

The Office of the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection of Mexico said Feb. 16 that the birds fell dead to the ground due to "the flock getting shocked against the power lines" in the area.

Graduated in Communication Sciences from the Universidad Privada del Norte in Trujillo, Peru. I have been part of the ACI Prensa team for more than 10 years. I have covered Pope Francis' trips to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Peru. I covered the beatification ceremony of today's Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 2015. Special envoy for investigation in Honduras in 2016. Head of the ACI Prensa Office in Mexico since 2018.