[armydoc]

I was simply trying to understand where you are coming from. If you think evil is synonymous with sinful, then either you think there are no natural evils (e.g. major birth defects, tsunamis that kill thousands of peoples, childhood leukemia, miscarriages, etc.) or you think that such things are sinful.

No, I don't believe such non-human things such as diseases or natural disasters are "sinful". They are, however, the result of sinful man- such things came about only after the initial rebellion of man towards God. If you want to say those things are "evil", fine. I don't have a problem saying that "sinful" is a subset of "evil".

[adiaireton8]

I don't have a problem saying that "sinful" is a subset of "evil".

We agree on that then. So, what is the difference between evil (unqualified) and sinfulness? The Church has taught that sinfulness is deliberate disbodience of God, in violation of one's reason and right conscience. If a child is not yet to the age of reason, then the child cannot deliberately offend God or willfully violate its reason or right conscience. What distinguishes sinfulness from evil simpliciter is that sinfulness involves the will of a rational creature knowingly acting against God, reason, or right conscience; evil simpliciter, however, need not involve the will of a rational creature.

-A8