Nadzieja jako uczucie i cnota w świetle nauczania Kościoła katolickiego.  Wybrane aspekty

Waldemar Prondzinski

doi:10.26142/stgd-2025-001

Published: 2025-12-15

Vol. 56 (2025)

Hope as a Feeling and Virtue in the Light of the Teaching of the Catholic Church. Selected Aspects

Waldemar Prondzinski

Gdańsk Studies

Section: Artykuły

https://doi.org/10.26142/stgd-2025-001

Abstract

Hope can be understood as a desire and expectation of good. In the psychological dimension, it helps to cope with difficulties and motivates to act. St. Thomas Aquinas described it both as a feeling striving for difficult good, requiring effort, and as a theological virtue based on God's help and directed towards eternal life. The Church sees hope primarily as a theological virtue, a gift of God, which, together with sanctifying grace, gives certainty of salvation and the strength to remain faithful to Christ. St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis and Leo XIV emphasize in their teaching that Christian hope is an active commitment to life, rooted in the Risen Christ and trust in the promises of God and His mercy. It is an „anchor” of the soul, transcending temporality and opening to an eternal perspective. Finally, it is a gift of grace that heals inner sadness and leads to conversion. It is distinguished from optimism, which is based on human strengths and earthly successes, which can lead to disappointment and doubt in the meaning of human existence.

Keywords:

feeling of hope, virtue of hope, optimism

Hope as a Feeling and Virtue in the Light of the Teaching of the Catholic Church. Selected Aspects

Abstract

Keywords:

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