Pope Francis and a certain Maltese proverb are on a head-on clash. The collective wisdom of our forefathers always taught us that a life based on hope leads to disappointment. On the other hand, the Argentinian pope is basing the Jubilee year on a quote from St Paul stating that hope does not deceive.
Considering all the evil there is around us – and there is plenty – is it sensible to believe that hope does not deceive?
Philosopher Byung-Chul Han, known for his criticism of capitalism and neoliberalism, in his book The Spirit of Hope (2022) argues that we live in an era of structural hopelessness, where climate crisis, social inequalities and growing digitalisation have eroded the capacity to image a better future. The climate crisis does not only affect climate but, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association, it is causing a mental health emergency.
At the beginning of his homily last Christmas, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, communicated the ugliness of this structural hopelessness. He was so shocked by “a tiring year full of tears, bloodshed, suffering” that he considered the announcing of the joy of Christ “to be out of tune”.
The situation is so bad that he “struggled with the unpleasant feeling that words, even faith-based ones, are useless when faced with the harshness of reality and a suffering that plainly seems to have no end in sight”.
We all experience personal pains and disappointments that gnaw at hope. Besides, various surveys held worldwide show a general loss of hope. The increase in income inequality, the degradation of the quality of life, corruption, impunity and ineffective institutions are contributing to the feeling of the loss of hope experienced by many Maltese. And can believers hope for stronger religious practice when their indices are plummeting?
Does all the above mean that the Maltese proverb will prevail in the head-on clash with Pope Francis?
My search for an answer starts with the popular South Korea series, Squid Game. What seems to be just a series about deadly games can be interpreted as the spark of light showing that the structural sense of hopelessness caused by the extreme capitalist belief that human lives are worthless when compared to the acquisition of money can be reversed.
In the last scene, we meet the anonymous organiser of the games, Oh-Ilnam. The very old man always believed that mankind is made up of, first and foremost, selfish, brutal creatures. Now, on his deathbed, he is with Gi Hun, the winner of the games who was so disappointed with the whole affair that he did not bother to pick the prize of €37 million. To prove his convictions, the old man makes a wager with Gi Hun that no one would help the drunken man lying on the road. But he lost his bet as help was in fact given.
As a result, even Gi-Hun starts hoping again in humanity. He now picks up the prize and uses it to help the relatives of the victims of the game.
The series, in line with Byung-Chul Han’s and the Christian concept of hope, gives us both a rendition of the malaise in society as well as the signs of hope which give one the strength to move on.
Christian hope is proactive. It is, as the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard says, a passion for the possible- Fr Joe Borg
Han’s philosophy recognises and denounces the maladies of contemporary society motivated by a type of economic model which ignores humanity’s deeper needs: meaning, community and transcendence. He invites us to discover in hope not facile optimism but the power to resist this evil and construct a more humane future. Han’s concept of hope encourages us to become key agents of change, urging us to reconnect with the fundamental aspects of the human and spiritual realms.
Even for Christians, hope is not wishful thinking, or even mere optimism, but it is grounded in concrete beliefs, in a world view which sees creation willed and guided by a loving God.
Christian hope is proactive. It is, as the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard says, a passion for the possible. But it is a passion for what is possible with the help of God.
This brings me back to the Christmas homily of Pizzaballa whose starting point was the hopelessness of the catastrophic situation of the Holy Land when analysed through human eyes. Faith helped him to discover hope when he analysed the Christmas story through God’s eyes. “Faith, when genuine and deeply rooted, brings a fresh and enlightened perspective on history,” he said.
In a moving piece, he added: “God, who does not flee from history, does not look at it indifferently from afar. He does not reject it with indignation as if it were too painful and evil, but embraces it, loves it. In His Son, the Father … shares our sufferings and tears to the point of bloodshed and offers us a way out filled with life and hope.”
In the light of this, Pizzaballa concludes that, really and truly, the angels’ song is not out of tune but “quite the opposite; it shows how out of tune are the noise of war and the empty rhetoric of the powerful!”
For the 2025 Jubilee, Pope Francis reminds believers that “Christian hope is no facile optimism, no placebo for the credulous: it is the certainty, rooted in love and faith, that God never abandons us and remains faithful to his promise.”
Like Han and Pizzaballa, he is fully conscious of the evil that surrounds us. However, he is confident that, with God’s grace, the celebration of the Jubilee can help believers discover hope in the signs of the times and look at the future with hope, enthusiasm for life and a readiness to share it.
I bet my money on Francis, not on the Maltese proverb.