Hope Founded on Justice: A Critical Reflection on “Spes non Confundit”, Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025

Abstract

Spes non Confundit: “Hope does not disappoint” taken from Romans 5:5, is the title of the Pope Francis’ letter of announcement of the ordinary jubilee of 2025.2 The letter indicates that hope is the central message of the coming Jubilee.3 The perspective of hope 1 Olisaemeka Rosemary Okwara is a member of the Daughters of Divine Love religious Congregation. She holds a doctorate degree in systematic theology and religious studies, and a diploma in academic teacher training programme in religious education from KU Leuven, Belgium. Presently, she is doing a Habilitation in fundamental theology and comparative religious studies at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany. Her research focuses on Christianity’s understanding of divine revelation, Christian anthropology and Vatican II’s theological hermeneutics in contemporary postcolonial and cosmopolitan theological formulations from the perspective of identity, diversity, ethics, soteriology and dialogue. In her view, Christian mission today involves the promotion of authentic human well-being, dialogue with cultures and integral education. Some of her research publications could be found @https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5384-6873. 2 Pope Francis, “Spes non Confundit”: Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/bulls/documents/20240509_spes-nonconfundit_bolla-giubileo2025.html, accessed, August 25, 2024. 3 “The coming Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God. May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require, in the Church and in society, according Spes non Confundit is that hope is not passive, rather hope challenges one to live out the faith which is believed. Rooted in Vatican II’s theological hermeneutics of signs of the times and a view of human existential issues as locus of faith and its praxis, the Holy Father discusses hope in its different facets as human and religious value that could also be resourceful in the challenging ethical, economic, religious, and socio-political issues of our times. The question that would guide the present paper is: Why is hope relevant for the ordinary jubilee 2025 and how does the Pope’s views offer a sure pathway of hope for our times? The paper’s argument is that the Pope’s mandate on hope offers insight to the human society by way of its understanding of hope as rooted in ardent faith, solidarity and justice.