Expert: Fr. Michael - 6/21/2006

Question
What is the Catholic teaching concerning all the bad things that are going on in the world? Are we to believe that everything happens for a reason and that it is all part of Gods master plan?  If this was the case, it would seem to say that there is  such a thing as fate, which seems to go against the notion of free will.  However, believing that there is a reason for everything is comforting in times of hardship.  What do you think, and does the Church say anything about it?

Answer
It was man, not God, who brought evil into the world.  God does not will evil, of course, but because he gave man free will, he must allow it to occur because of our will.  The world is our test, in which we show whether we truly love God or not and merit Heaven or not.  "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves."