Like Lazarus coming forth from the tomb:

Father Gabriel Morales shares new details about his near-fatal car accident and reflects on the meaning of suffering

When law enforcement officers saw the crumpled car, they did not think anyone survived. The missing engine, ejected from the engine compartment, underscores the violence of the collision between Father Gabriel’s sedan and the semi-truck. (Courtesy Photo/Father Gabriel Morales)

By Philip A. Janquart 

ICR Assistant Editor 

His sedan looked more like a mangled pop can than a car after it smashed into a semi-truck on the morning of March 24, 2023. 

Snow, ice, wind and fog contributed to a crash that by all rights should have taken the life of Father Gabriel Morales, then 40 and pastor at Presentation of the Lord Parish in American Falls, Blessed Sacrament in Aberdeen and St. John’s in Pingree. 

However, as is often the case, God had other plans. Unexpected intercessors seemed to corroborate the fact. 

In an April 11, 2025, interview, seeking an update on his progress more than two years after he escaped death, Father Morales, now 42, told the Idaho Catholic Register (ICR) that a woman appeared to him while he was unconscious. 

“Oh, yes,” he said when asked if he experienced anything spiritual in his unconscious state. 

“There was a woman,” continued Father Morales. “She was a woman I would see at church when I was a boy in Mexico. I wasn’t close with her, but my memories about her…she was old and very devout. She was the aunt of my brother-in-law Gildardo Juárez, and she passed away. But I saw her there with one of her brothers, praying for me. I can tell you about her clothes, the colors…she was wearing a yellow sweater and a blue square skirt.

“The surroundings were something like inside a church,” he continued. “She was kneeling and praying. Along with her brother, I believe other people were praying for me. It was as though she would come and go, come and go every day. After I woke from anesthesia, I asked my mom and my sister if they could see her, but they said ‘no.’”

It is not clear whether the woman, whom Father Morales knows as Angelina Tapia, came to him immediately after the crash or during his 15-day induced coma in Portneuf Medical Center’s (PMC) intensive care unit (ICU) in Pocatello. 

Either way, he says that she brought him comfort despite his not knowing what was happening. 

“I think she was like an intercessor for me,” he said. “She was always very devout; I knew that about her. I think she is very holy and was there to pray for me. I have a devotion for souls in Purgatory, and after confession, I almost always ask penitents to say a prayer for souls in Purgatory as an act of penance. I can’t say whether Angela is in Heaven or Purgatory, but to me, she was an intercessor during that difficult time.”

The Crash 

On the day of the incident, Father Morales was driving from his home in Aberdeen, west of Pocatello, to his parents’ house in American Falls to have breakfast with his mother, Marta Morales, and then to offer the morning Mass at St. Mary’s Chapel. 

Father Morales’ route took him along State Highway 39, a roughly 15-mile drive that would have taken him across American Falls Dam at the southwest end of American Falls Reservoir and into the city of American Falls, but he didn’t make it that far. 

The two-vehicle crash occurred near South Pleasant Valley Road, about two miles from the dam. 

A Power County Sheriff’s report stated that “high winds, fog and snow contributed to hazardous road conditions.” The agency’s investigation showed that Father Gabriel’s car “lost control on the icy roads and slid into the oncoming lane of travel.” 

A photo of the aftermath clearly shows the crumpled car’s engine missing from the engine compartment, underscoring the force and violence of the collision. 

Upon witnessing the condition of Father Morales’ vehicle, an unnamed responding officer said he initially believed there would be no survivors. To his surprise, however, he received a response when he attempted to speak with Father Morales.

Father Morales was quickly transported by ambulance to the medical center in Pocatello, where he was admitted to the facility’s ICU. 

“Many people from Presentation of the Lord Parish in American Falls, Aberdeen and Pingree, as well as Catholics throughout the state, joined in prayer, pleading for the recovery of Father Morales,” wrote Vero Gutiérrez, ICR assistant editor, in her May 26, 2023, article. 

Despite the severity of his 2023 accident, Father Morales continues to recover, offering up his physical and emotional pain for many intentions and people. (Courtesy Photo/Jessica Gallegos) 

The Injuries 

He received five blood transfusions and was put into an induced coma due to the extent of his injuries, which included complications with his lungs. The coma also stabilized him in preparation for multiple surgeries. 

Weeks after his initial admission, doctors performed surgeries to repair his broken legs and shoulder. Later, two surgeries were performed on his left arm at the Orthopaedic Center at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to graft nerves from his legs to his left arm, which had sustained extensive nerve damage, causing him to lose mobility and feeling in his fingers.

Father Morales had to learn how to walk again, but was already making progress a few months after the crash with the help of physical and occupational therapy, a treatment he still receives twice a week for both his legs and left arm. 

For now, appointments with various medical specialists will continue to be a regular part of his life.

Rising from the Dead 

“It was confusing,” said Father Morales, describing what it was like waking from his coma. “I tried to understand what was going on. Some of the people who were there to visit me said this and that, but it was very confusing. Even now, I don’t have a memory of that day. I just know that I lost control of the car and crashed into a semi-truck, but I don’t have any memory of it.” 

He was released from the hospital on May 5, 2023. At that time, he told the ICR that he was still processing everything that happened, trying to comprehend his close brush with death. 

Father Morales would later say, after seeing crash photos, that he was surprised he wasn’t ejected from the car and killed. 

He said the prayers he received and the visit from Angelina and her brother drew him closer to God. He added, however, that even after two years, it’s still too early to understand the purpose behind his experience. 

He said that when proclaiming the Lazarus reading during Lent (at the Mass with those in the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults program), he felt like Lazarus coming out of the tomb. “I don’t yet understand why it happened, but I think of it as an opportunity God has given me. I am grateful to God because I believe this is a new chance to be faithful to Him.” 

Father Morales has returned to some of his regular duties and has been celebrating Mass as he did before. However, he requires assistance distributing Communion because his left hand is still healing.

“There is a minister of the Eucharist who helps me while I’m giving Communion,” he explained. “They hold the Paten, and I give Communion to the faithful with my right hand.” 

He added, “Things happen to us, and we can’t always see the purpose, but I decided that instead of being angry, I am going to continue on this journey. I’m offering my pain for so many intentions and people. I know it will be a long recovery, but the process is going well.” 

Father Morales recognized a specific doctor who expressed considerable kindness to his mother following the crash.

“He performed the surgeries while I was in the Portneuf Hospital in Pocatello,” he said. “His name is Kevin O’Halloran, and he gave a Rosary to my mom. I am not sure if he is Catholic, but my mom said the Rosary belonged to his family, and he wanted to give it to her. I know he is skilled, but he also did his job with his faith.”