THE SCANDAL OF EVIL
God is in no way the cause of moral evil... Man was created at the "image of God" and called to a personal relationship with God.
God is the sovereign master of His plan;but to carry it out, He also makes use of man's co-operation. This use is not a sign of weakness, but rather a token of Almighty God's greatness and goodness. For God grants man not only his existence, but also the dignity of acting on his own and of co-operating in the accomplishment of God's plan. God created man a rational being, giving him the dignity of a person who can control his own actions. Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. Human freedom is a force of growth and maturity in truth and goodness. By free will man shapes his own life. Man is rational and free;with free will he is master over his acts and responsible for them. But, as long as freedom has not bound itself to its ultimate good which is God himself, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil.
With infinite wisdom and goodness God chose to create man in "a state of journeying" toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined him. Moreover, God guides and enables man to attain his ultimate perfection. But man can turn away. As intelligent and free creature, man has to journey to his ultimate destiny by his free choice. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. It is the base of praise or blame, merit or reproach. Unfortunately, by this free choice, man can go astray. Indeed, he has sinned. Thus moral evil has entered the world.
But, if God cares for all his creatures, why did He permit evil to enter this world? To this question, as pressing as it is unavoidable, no quick answer will suffice. God permits it because He respects the freedom of man and, mysteriously, knows how to derive good from it.
Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if He did not cause a good to come from that very evil.
Fr.Cipriano Bontacchio