“The Pope has managed to steer clear for a long time of the assumptions and rumours of the mass media about his second encyclical and wrote the ‘Spe Salvi’ straight off. This encyclical will not dispel expectations on the future one on social issues. After the first one about love and this one about hope, we wonder at this point whether there will be a third encyclical about faith”: with these words, the director of the Newsroom of the Holy See opened the press conference, held late this morning, for the presentation of Benedict XVI’s encyclical “Spe salvi”, in the presence of cardinals Albert Vanhoye and Georges Cottier. Answering a question about ecumenism, card. Vanhoye highlighted that "the topic chosen by the Pope is shared by all Christians, in that we are all moving towards eternal life as a full, final communion with God “. Answering a question about the social dimension of the encyclical, card. Georges Cottier highlighted that "there is no Christian recipe for building the temporal society. Instead the Pope hopes Christians will commit themselves and will offer to the world and the solution of its problems the heritage of the great values of the Catholic tradition”.
