What does Christian hope mean in the modern world and why is it relevant? Encyclical letters written by the popes invariably express a message of hope. Indeed, Pope Benedict XVI wrote one, Spe Salvi (“Saved in Hope”) specifically on the theme of hope. And the message of that encyclical has resonated through the writings of Pope Francis.

Hope as consolation as we face the troubles of this world

Pope Benedict reminds us at the beginning of Spe Salvi that it is trust in our redemption and salvation that enables us to face the present with hope whatever the trials we face. We can still strive towards the goal of eternal life with God. Pope Benedict uses the example of St. Josephine Bakhita who was held as a slave and beaten brutally throughout much of her life. She was later baptised and then became a religious sister. She knew that the liberation that she had received through her encounter with Jesus had to be handed on to others: the hope born should reach everybody.

Hope is shared and not merely individual

This example teaches us that hope comes from our relationship with Christ, whose resurrection was the most profound sign of hope to the world, but also that the nature of hope is not an individual one: it is a shared one. This is stressed in the encyclical letters of both Pope Francis and Pope Benedict. However, this does not mean that such hope constrains our freedom: it concerns each one of us individually while being the light that guides us toward a “culture of encounter”[1].

Hope comes from our redemption through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross

In Spe Salvi Pope Benedict XVI describes Christian hope as a gift brought to us through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, by which we have been redeemed from sin. It is only because we have been saved, that we can now have “great hope”[2], which is that we have can share in “the Kingdom of God”[3] – eternal life with Christ. This hope is so powerful that the sole awareness of it is transformative in our lives and the lives of others, because it gives us strength to overcome difficulties and be active members of society, as illustrated by the life of St Bakhita. It is the awareness manifested in the popular quote by Stephen King: “Hope can set you free”.

But it should be emphasised again that this ‘you’, means ‘us’: not each one following their individual “hopes”, but all following one great hope in unity with God in heaven. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross bound human beings together as Children of God, allowing us to get to know God and striving to be One with Him in heaven, and thus One with one another. Getting to know God means knowing Love itself, the selfless and sacrificial love which requires that “we escape from the prison of our “I””[4]. “Life in its true sense is not something we have exclusively in or from ourselves: it is a relationship” wrote Pope Benedict.[5] We cannot, therefore, get to know and love God without ending up loving others, and those whom He loves, which is each and everyone of us.

Living like brothers and sisters in this world

That is the “renewed hope”[6] for which Pope Francis calls in Fratelli Tutti and that can help us in overcoming the challenges of the modern world, by recognising one another and thus living like brothers and sisters. Pope Francis stressed the importance of nurturing the hope that together we can solve the problems of this world: “This means that everyone has a fundamental role to play in a single great creative project: to write a new page of history, a page full of hope, peace and reconciliation”.[7]  He also linked the mission of the Church in salvation with its role in the shared task of building the common good: “She does not claim to compete with earthly powers, but to offer herself as a family among families, this is the Church, open to bearing witness in today’s world, open to faith, hope and love for the Lord and for those whom he loves with a preferential love. A home with open doors. The Church is a home with open doors, because she is a mother.”

As he also notes in Fratelli Tutti, the COVID-19 pandemic showed us how much we need one another[8]. It also shows what Pope Benedict wrote earlier in Spe Salvi, that we cannot simply put our hope in ‘a better world’ built by science or politics and economics[9]. He continues: “Man’s great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God—God who has loved us and who continues to love us “to the end,””[10]. This hope that comes from God allows believers, as Pope Francis emphasises, “to seek God with a sincere heart” and thus “helps us recognize one another as travelling companions, truly brothers and sisters.”[11]

And likewise, it is this recognition and closeness to one another, what Pope Francis calls a “culture of encounter”, which can “restore hope and bring about renewal”.[12] Because hope fuels further hope. And now, more than ever, in a world of self-indulgence, broken relationships, and decay, we need this hope so we can be truly “set free”. The resurrection of Jesus provides us with this hope and the way.

Adelaide di Maggio is Policy and Research Analyst for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

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[1] Fratelli Tutti para 30.
[2] Spe Salvi para 3.
[3] Spe Salvi para 20.
[4] Spe Salvi para.14
[5] Spe Salvi para. 27
[6] Fratelli Tutti, para.55
[7] Fratelli Tutti, para.221
[8] Fratelli Tutti para. 32
[9] Spe Salvi para.26
10] Spe Salvi, para. 27.
[11] Fratelli Tutti para.274
[12] Fratelli Tutti para 30.

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