Crossing the Threshold of Hope

Crossing the Threshold of Hope was written in 1994 by Pope John Paul II. It was published originally in Italian by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore and in English by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. It is distributed by Random House, Inc., New York City. By 1998, the book had sold several million copies and was published in forty languages. Over one million copies were sold in Italy alone.

The contents presented in Crossing the Threshold of Hope were originally intended to be broadcast as a live television interview with Vittorio Messori, an Italian journalist and writer. The interview was to celebrate fifteen years of his papacy. When John Paul II had to cancel the interview at the last minute, he still wanted to answer Messori's questions and told him: “You have asked me questions, therefore you have a right to responses. ... I am working on them. I will let you have them. Then do with them what you think is appropriate”.

At the end of April 1994, Messori received a package from the Vatican: The pope had answered every question. John Paul II expressed his confidence in Messori by permitting him to do whatever he saw fit with the contents of the folder. He only wrote “Crossing the Threshold of Hope” on the inside front cover of the folder as a suggestion for a possible title.

As Messori began compiling the questions, he saw that additional questions as follow-up would be helpful. Additional questions were composed and sent. When the follow-up questions returned from the Vatican, Messori found that the pope had again answered every question.

The text of the book is presented exactly as written by John Paul II. Points that the pope underlined in his original manuscript are italicized in the published text. Paragraph breaks remain consistent with John Paul II's writing.

Messori doesn't ask private questions, but the questions he does ask allow the reader to see the personal life of the pope. For example, the very first question in Crossing the Threshold of Hope asks whether the pope ever doubts his relationship with God, especially given the importance of his role in the Catholic Church. The pope's answer grounds itself in Scripture: “Be not afraid!” (Luke 1:30). These words echoed through John Paul II's papacy, and they continue to echo in this writing.

Messori continues to ask questions throughout the book that people throughout the world have wondered: “How do you pray?” “Does God really exist?” “Is there really hope in the young?” “Does eternal life exist?” “What does it mean to be saved?” The pope does not answer questions that only pertain to Catholicism. Messori asks questions about Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, and monotheistic religions in general. John Paul II's answers to these questions reflect his great love for all people and his knowledge of these religions: he speaks several times of individuals he has met who belong to these religions, sometimes calling them by name. He also says vehemently that “the Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions”. He quotes the Second Vatican Council as mentioning a "common soteriological root present in all religions" though he seems to contradict that by stating that "the Buddhist tradition and the methods deriving from it have an almost exclusively negative soteriology." and continuing "doctrines of salvation in Buddhism and Christianity are opposed." This has been judged by Buddhists as a misunderstanding of Buddhism.

Messori's questions in the latter portion of the book refer to various tenets of the Catholic faith, including whether the Catholic Church really has the fullness of truth, and whether or not heaven exists. Many people ask these questions, and the pope's answers to these questions can be found here.