Why does God allow suffering and evil in the world?

The Nature of Evil as Privation

In Catholic theology, following Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas, evil is understood not as a created substance or an independent cosmic force competing against God, but as a privatio boni—the privation or distortion of a due good. God is the source of all being, and everything He created is fundamentally good. Evil enters creation when rational creatures defect from that goodness. Moral evil occurs when a creature with intellect and will chooses a lesser or disordered good over the supreme Good, thereby introducing fracture, injustice, and pain into the world.

Divine Providence and Human Freedom

The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms that God is in no way, directly or indirectly, the cause of moral evil (CCC 311).

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