Editorial – Fides 5/2025, October 10, 2025
The Jubilee Year of Hope is by no means over yet, but we can already look back on it a little. Two words and two ideas come to mind.
The first word is hope. In the midst of global turmoil, in the endless dance between economic growth and crisis, amid wars and violent conflicts, the life of the Church everywhere is marked more by hope than by resignation. The message of hope lies at the very heart of this Jubilee Year. Hope is like a lighthouse whose beam directs our gaze toward the future – a future filled with expectation and trust.
In the North – and not only here – local churches are growing, workloads are increasing, and there is an urgent search for ways to accomplish all that needs to be done. At the same time, many feel that an old balance is fading and a new one taking its place. Uncertainty about where we are heading is growing. It is precisely here that the support of a synodal and evangelizing Church is essential. It is precisely here that the Church’s role as a guardian of social stability and equilibrium becomes evident.
As Bishop Raimo’s interview in this issue shows, the Church in Finland is anything but passive – quite the opposite. There are many goals, plans, and projects. Yet what matters most is that none of us can achieve great objectives alone. The Church’s work belongs to all of us; the Church’s goals are our goals; the upkeep of the Church is our shared responsibility. The Church is, and must be, a communion, and the well-being of both the Church and her members depends on how strong that communion is.
The second word, then, is communion. We Christians live out this communion not only by praying together, but by acting together in concrete ways. Perhaps each of us might reflect on what we are doing to strengthen the unity of the Church and of all Christians. Perhaps the greatest act of strengthening communion is precisely the one highlighted by Pope Leo in his newly released apostolic exhortation: to give priority to the poor – whoever they may be.
Marko Tervaportti