—– Fatal Stampede Mars Papal Angola Visit (The Sydney Morning Herald; March 22)

Pope Benedict XVI addressed more than 30,000 Angolan youths on Saturday to revive their faith in a nation where evangelicals are gaining ground, but the event was marred by a deadly stampede that killed two….

Tens of thousands of young people, including mothers carrying babies, packed into the Stadio dos Coqueiros, filling the stands and the field as music blared from the stage ahead of the pope’s appearance.

But the stampede around noon (2200 AEDT), when the gates of the stadium opened, killed two young people and injured 18, senior police official Paulo de Almeida told Portugal’s Lusa news agency.

The two – a male and a female whose ages were not clear – died at the scene. Ten others were treated on the spot and eight taken to hospital, Lusa said, adding that a criminal investigation had been launched.

When the 81-year-old Pope arrived in the stadium, looking tired but smiling, the crowd on the field surged toward his vehicle in a near stampede as he drove toward the stage….

I would have protected these people from harm if I could have. Why didn’t Jesus? Why did going to see his alleged representative on earth actually cost them their lives instead?

It’s an issue that comes up with some regularity.

Here’s a story from last month which raised similar questions in my mind:

—– Four Boys Die At Baptism Ceremony (George Bita/The New Vision/allAfrica.com; Feb 17)

KAMPALA, Uganda: Shock gripped residents of Busembatia town in Iganga district on Sunday after four boys drowned in Mugoya reservoir during a water-immersion baptism ceremony.

The function similar to the biblical baptism of John the Baptist, involved 10 youth from the area.

A witness said the bodies were spotted floating in the water shortly after the function.

The district criminal investigations boss, Daniel Mugisha, identified the dead as Geoffrey Tumusime, 19, Moses Irali, 15, Fred Batambuze of Bubago Primary School and his brother Edward Kamize, 16, a student of Busembatia High School.

Mugisha said Pastor Ronald Kibumba, the leader of Busembatia Baptist Church, was in Police custody to help with investigations.

Kibumba said: “The children remained behind despite my advice not to swim alone.”

Moses Kaziba, the church’s overseer, said the incident was an accident and should not be treated as a crime.

Over the years I’ve posted numerous stories like this about people whose participation in a religious event seems to have cost them their lives even as atheists and others who never attend a religious event somehow managed to make it through the day without a scratch. (You can find a particularly troubling story I shared last December 26 by clicking here.) If Jesus is loving, just, merciful, omniscient, omnipotent, and all the other good things that Christians commonly claim he is, why does he stand back and allow bad things to happen to his followers while they’re in the very process of showing their devotion?

Given that none of the hundreds of thousands of people who attended Obama’s inauguration seem to have been killed in the process, are there any Catholics out there who are now ready to consider the possibility that Jesus prefers Obama’s fans to Pope Benedict’s?