Father James Hanvey SJ

Father James Hanvey SJ

From Wave of Hope by Catholic Bishops' Conference

December 19, 2025 · 3 min · Season 1 · Episode 20

About this episode

Father James Hanvey SJ reflects on hope during Advent, inspired by a gathering of prayer for Pope Francis.

19 December This Wave of Hope reflection for Advent comes from Father James Hanvey SJ, Secretary for the Service of Faith of the Society of Jesus. Fr Hanvey found hope in how people gathered in St Peter’s Square to pray for Pope Francis as he was dying: “It was a grace just to be one of the crowd. No, not an anonymous crowd, but the Holy People of God, a Church at prayer, simply and with faith and with hope. I knew that whatever the situation of the world – its wars, its sufferings, the rise and decline of all its powers – this was the Church here, now, and in this place, the church of ordinary people that would endure and carry its love and its prayer for the whole world.” Wave of Hope offers 25 short multimedia reflections for the season – one a day – as our contributors share a moment in 2025 that has led them to a place of hope. Subscribe You can subscribe to our Wave of Hope podcast reflections using your podcast platform of choice. Subscribe using Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon/Audible. Feed: cbcew.org.uk/feed/podcast/wave-of-hope/

People in this episode

Guest: Father James Hanvey SJ

Topics covered

  • Advent
  • hope
  • faith
  • prayer
  • community
  • Christianity

Keywords

  • Advent
  • hope
  • Father James Hanvey
  • Pope Francis
  • prayer
  • community
  • faith

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Society of Jesus

Books & works: Wave of Hope

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