Questions / God and the Trinity

Why does God allow suffering?

Church teaching

Answered on video by Bishop Robert Barron

Video: Why Does God Allow Suffering? — Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermon, Bishop Robert Barron, published Sep 20, 2020. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

In short: There’s no one-liner for this one. The Church says the only real answer is the whole Christian story, with a God who suffers on a cross at the center. CCC 309

The answer, in writing

Church teaching

The Catechism says no quick answer will do for the question of evil. CCC 309

Only the whole Christian story answers it: a good creation, the drama of sin, and God’s patient love coming to meet us. CCC 309

God permits evil only because He can bring good out of it, and the greatest example is the cross, where the worst thing ever done became our salvation. CCC 312

Our words

This is the hardest question there is. Christians don’t answer it with a theory. We point to the cross, where God didn’t stay far away from suffering.

Watch another on this

Play video: The Real Answer to Why God Allows Suffering, Ascension Presents, from Ascension Presents, 8 min. Loads from YouTube when pressed.

If God is good, why is there so much suffering?

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Related questions

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Sources on this page

How we know · 2 Catechism paragraphs

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 309, 312 (official text on vatican.va).

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