Hope in the teaching of Saint John Paul II: The thomistic influence

Abstract

This paper analyzes the theological and anthropological development of the theological virtue of hope in Saint Thomas Aquinas and its reception in the magisterium of Saint John Paul II. Drawing on Aquinas’s two major works, the Summa Theologiae and the Summa contra Gentiles, it highlights that hope, for the Angelic Doctor, is a virtue infused by God that directs the human being (homo viator) toward eternal beatitude, grounded in trust in divine omnipotence. In turn, Saint John Paul II embraces this Thomistic vision within the contemporary context, proposing a “spirituality of witness” centered on Christ the Redeemer as the ultimate foundation of human hope, both personally and socially. The study identifies three common dimensions between the two authors: the theological grounding in divine mercy, the personal spiritual dynamism as the path toward the summum bonum, and the eschatological projection of hope within history. In a world marked by the dominance of immanence and the loss of meaning, both authors offer a christian response rooted in the transcendent character of created reality.