VATICAN CITY (UCAN) -- In his new encyclical on hope, Pope Benedict XVI argues that "a world without God is a world without hope" and presents two Vietnamese Catholics as inspiring "witnesses of hope" and belief in "life after death" for the 21st century.
"Faith in the Last Judgment is first and foremost hope," he writes.
Pope Benedict expresses his personal conviction "that the question of justice constitutes the essential argument, or in any case the strongest argument, in favor of faith in eternal life," since injustice cannot have the final word.
"Evildoers, in the end, do not sit at table at the eternal banquet beside their victims without distinction, as though nothing has happened," he states.
As cardinal-prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and now, as pope, Benedict XVI has consistently denounced the relativism he sees as pervading the modern world. Yet when it comes to the Last Judgment, he is convinced "the great majority of people" will reach heaven, through God´s grace.
He affirms: "The way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not stain us forever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love."
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Gerard O´Connell covers the Vatican as a correspondent for UCA News and other news organizations.
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