Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, the director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, recently published an article in Psychology Today, which was also shared as a research update from the Human Flourishing Program. Both the article and the research update recapitulate main points of the recent research by VanderWeele and Lee (2025) on the possibilities of a new paradigm for systematic research of love, including its connections to forgiveness (see my review in A New Paradigm of Love for Understanding Human Flourishing & Forgiveness).
The recently published article and research update from the Human Flourishing Program connect love to forgiveness, especially for the beneficial effects of forgiveness for mental health, feelings and perceptions of hope, and improved human flourishing:
Studies of forgiveness, which might be viewed as a restoration of love—a replacement of ill-will with goodwill—following an offense, indicate important effects on lowering depression and anxiety, increasing hope, and improving flourishing. Randomized trials of compassion interventions likewise suggest powerful effects on well-being.
Dr. VanderWeele concludes, “We should promote forgiveness within society, which helps to restore love and further promotes individual and social flourishing.”
On the occasion of the article and research update, Dr. VanderWeele is announcing a new effort at the Human Flourishing Program — the Love of Neighbor Initiative. The purposes of the initiative are to:
- Promote love in all different types of relationships—from parenting to schools to friendship to religious communities and beyond.
- Begin nationally representative tracking of love of neighbor and love of enemy assessments to see how these are distributed throughout society and how they may be changing over time.
- Encourage the promotion of love within public policy, and the recognition of love as a social determinant of health from institutions ranging from the World Health Organization to the American Psychiatric Association and the DSM, and elsewhere.
- Support campaigns promoting a universal love of neighbor.
These purposes reflect a simultaneous effort at both action and research — “action research.” Action research is a philosophy and methodology of research that seeks transformative change through the simultaneous process of taking action and doing research, linked together by critical reflection.
In closing the article and research update, Dr. VanderWeele echoes the words of Saint Pope John Paul II:
For a fuller human flourishing, we need to be striving towards love and towards what some [Saint Pope John Paul II] have called a “civilization of love.” The research is compelling, and the policy and promotion opportunities are numerous. Let us seek together to better love one another.
The refocus on love in research, along with new efforts like the Love of Neighbor Initiative, can help us apply both scientific studies, and research-informed action, to fulfilling the call of Christ in the inspirational words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (para. 1825):
The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself.
Please share these words with someone who needs them today.
This text is an original work of its author Tom Delaney and was entirely composed without the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
If your parish or faith community is seeking a deeper experience of forgiveness, healing, mercy, and spiritual renewal, Live and Forgive is here to help. To begin the conversation, email Live and Forgive presenter and facilitator Tom Delaney at tom@liveandforgive.com — he will be glad to connect with you for a conversation. Please type in your email and click “Subscribe” below to stay connected and get Live and Forgive articles delivered to you.
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