Call for papers: Words, Ways, and Signs of Christian Hope in the Context of the Jubilee Year 2025
The topic of the issue: Words, Ways, and Signs of Christian Hope in the Context of the Jubilee Year 2025
1. Explanation of the topic
In the bull Spes non confundit, announcing the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025, Pope Francis encourages the Church and all people of goodwill to renew their commitment to hope. The Pope’s call serves as an impetus for deeper theological, philosophical, and pastoral reflection on the phenomenon of hope, exploring its essence, foundations, manifestations, and practical realization in a world marked by skepticism and pessimism.
In the Christian understanding, hope is neither a superficial optimism nor an illusory promise dressed in ideological guise. Instead, it is a tangible gift of grace and a source of meaningful life. In the context of the Jubilee Year celebrated within the Church community, essential questions arise about the universal nature of hope, its temporal and supernatural dimensions, and its inseparable connection to faith, love, patience, forgiveness, and mercy.
Today, theology—both theoretical (biblical and systematic) and practical (pastoral)—faces the global crisis of hope, manifesting in experiences of existential emptiness, boredom, despair, and fear of the future. However, the historical plurality of theological traditions and research methods positions theology to significantly enrich contemporary humanity with the gift of hope that is proclaimed, celebrated, and practiced (cf. Rom 15:13). Through this, theological reflection can actively contribute to building a "social covenant for hope" (Spes non confundit, no. 9).
We invite submissions of articles addressing various aspects of hope, particularly in the context of contemporary cultural, social, and religious transformations. We encourage innovative interpretations within the framework of "theology of hope," as well as creative explorations of the words, paths, and signs of Christian hope in the context of the Jubilee Year 2025.
2. Deadlines and conditions
Articles may be written in Polish or one of the conference languages: English, German, French, Spanish, or Italian.
For detailed guidelines for authors, see: https://czasopisma.kul.pl/vv/about/submissions
As to editorial guidelines, the submission should conform to the Author-Date Style as defined by the Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition).
Deadline for submission of texts: 30 May 2025
Publication date of the issue: 30 September 2025
Texts should be submitted via the journal’s website: https://czasopisma.kul.pl/vv/
Correspondence with the Editorial Team: verbum.vitae@kul.pl
3. Why is it worth publishing in the Verbum Vitae Quarterly?
The quarterly Verbum Vitae is currently one of the three highest-ranking theological journals in Poland. In the latest ratings of journals issued by the Ministry of Education and Science (5.01.2024), our publication was assigned a top score of 100 points. Moreover, Verbum Vitae is represented in the Web of Science, SCOPUS, DOAJ, ATLA, and EBSCO scholarly databases. The last three named platforms in fact deliver every article published in our journal in full-text PDF format to every university library in the world. This makes Verbum Vitae an extremely effective venue for academics to participate in the arena of international scientific dialogue.
