Free Process Defense: orthodox?

[Neithan]

On a recent Word on Fire episode, Bp. Robert Barron briefly mentioned John Polkinghorne’s “free process” defense in the context of the problem of evil. I am not really familiar with it. I looked up process theology and it definitely does not seem in line with orthodoxy. It appears to be based on Hegelian cosmology and one of the ideas is that God is in some way, changeable.

There isn’t a Wikipedia article on it but I did find a short description on encyclopedia.com: Free Process Defense | Encyclopedia.com

[…] God has chosen to let the world develop itself in a continual interplay with chance and the necessities embodied in the divinely installed laws of nature, in order for nature to explore its own potentialities. Thus understood, the free process defense is an extension of the free will defense.

Does this assume the rest of process theology, or can it fit within Catholic orthodoxy? The gist is that a world that develops naturally is a greater good than one that is miraculously instantiated. This would provide a compelling theological reason for natural evil.