Former Street Child Asks the Pope Why God Lets Children Suffer
I admire much of what the Catholic Papa tells his faithful. I think his best response to this girl’s question was to hug her. A very pastoral (and basically human) thing to do. He also responded, quite honestly I think, :
“She is the only one who has put a question for which there is no answer and she wasn’t even able to express it in words but in tears,”
Respectfully, I would offer another response to this girl’s honest and heartfelt question:
After a hug, of course. . .
1) Children suffer because communities do not work together with commitment to end the suffering
2) Children suffer because governments expend so much more money on power, wealth and the military that there is little left for helping poorer citizens
3) Children suffer because religious institutions (especially the Pope’s Church in your country) spend most of their time praying, reading the bible, building churches and debating theology rather than putting resources and energy into ending the suffering
4) Children suffer because there are, unfortunately, many parents who don’t know how to parent and, sad to say, there are too many children being born in places where they cannot be cared for properly
5) Finally. . .and gently. . . there is no Parent in the Sky, no God to “allow” or not allow the suffering. It is up to your community, your country, and the rest of us to work together to build homes and schools and healthy environments for children and adults.. Please keep asking questions, and lead the way forward for a world with less suffering.
Little girl, we need you!
Secular Chaplain 
Reblogged this on Good On The Outside and commented:
Wonderful blog post!
Glad you liked this and passed it along. Responding honestly to the questions is wise, and sometimes the most appropriate answer is that we don’t know! Thanks.