The news recently broke that a Catholic priest in Ecuador, Fr Patricio Alfredo Sánchez Molinari, was killed when a large crucifix fell on him during Mass. While many offered their condolences, some corners of the internet saw an opportunity to denounce what they characterise as Catholic idolatry surrounding images of Our Lord and His saints.
One such man was Pastor Jonathan Shelley of Stedfast Baptist Church, who claimed that God, “having a sense of humour”, had caused the accident, killing the priest and “sending him straight to hell”. (For a fuller response to his accusations about Catholic images, I recommend this recent video by Trent Horn at Catholic Answers.) But this episode also raises a broader question: why does God permit afflictions to befall man?
