Church in the World

Pope ‘to release encyclical on hope’

Pope Benedict's writings on the theme of hope are now expected to form an encyclical that will be released before Christmas.

The new document, entitled Spe Salvi ("Saved by Hope"), is due to be released during Advent, according to reports in the Italian daily La Repubblica, and elsewhere, although no publication date has been announced. The title refers to St Paul's Epistle to the Romans where he writes "In hope we were saved" (Romans 8:24).

The Tablet reported in October that a document on hope, which would probably take the form of a 60-page Apostolic Exhortation, had been finished and was in the process of being translated. This week the Italian media reported that the text - the second encyclical of Benedict's pontificate - would be a meditation on the theme of Christian hope and its relationship to modern culture, but little else is known about its contents. Speaking to Mexican bishops in September 2005, the Pope said that "confronted by today's changing and complex panorama, the virtue of hope is subject to harsh trials in the community of believers".

If the new document is released by Christmas as predicted, suitable dates for its publication are said to be 2 December, the first Sunday of Advent, or 8 December, the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Pope Benedict reportedly put the finishing touches to the encyclical this summer during his holiday in Lorenzago di Cadore; the text has been revised, as is customary, by various Vatican ministries, but the final word on the document's contents rests with the Pope.

Rumours of an encyclical on hope have come as a surprise after months of leaks and reports asserting that Benedict XVI's second encyclical would be on social issues such as labour and wealth. According to the Rome daily Il Messaggero, this summer the Pope himself confirmed "with a smile" that he was writing about social issues, and brief excerpts of the text appeared in various magazines.

According to Vatican sources, Pope Benedict's "social" encyclical is ready but its release has been delayed because of disagreements over the title and contents - one Vatican insider even said that the text could be "shelved". Pope Benedict's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, a meditation on love, was published in January last year after months of speculation about its contents and timing. The Pope is also to release his second volume about Jesus before long, probably by spring 2008.