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VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI is launching a new Pontifical Academy for Latin to help priests and academics deepen their knowledge and ability with the language.
“There is a pressing need for greater knowledge and more competent use of Latin in the ecclesial environment as well as in the world of culture at large,” the Pope stated Nov. 10.
The new academy was announced in a letter titled “Latina Lingua.” The document is known as a motu proprio (“by his own initiative”).
The academy will have two goals.
The first is “to promote the knowledge and study of the Latin language and literature, both classical and patristic … especially in Catholic educational institutions where priests both train and educate seminarians.”
The second aim of the school will be to promote the written and spoken use of Latin.
“There is a danger of an increasingly superficial knowledge of Latin, also reflected in the philosophical and theological studies of future priests, in contemporary culture and in the context of a general weakening of the humanities,” Pope Benedict wrote in his letter.
“It seems urgent to support the efforts for a more responsible use of Latin and a better understanding of it, both within the Church and in the wider world of culture,” the Holy Father stated.
He said knowledge of Latin is now more necessary than ever to study sources from which to draw upon, including theology, liturgy, the Church Fathers and canon law, as taught by the Second Vatican Council.
But, according to the Pope, there also is a renewed interest in Latin and culture among young people and scholars from different nations in a world dominated by science and technology.
The new academy will replace the Latinitas Foundation, which was established by Pope Paul VI in 1976.
The Pontifical Academy for Latin, which will have a five-year trial period, will be part of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
On Nov. 10, Pope Benedict appointed Ivano Dionigi as the president of the new academy and Father Roberto Spataro as its secretary.
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It’s good and rewarding that the Pope wants to revive Latin! I don’t know why the language was removed from many school curriculum in the first place. I guess some academic and intellectual iconoclasts must have spearheaded the move to kill Latin completely by dubbing it a ‘dead language’. Educated folks in any language would testify to the importance of Latin. If a native speaker of English pondered on many English words he would marvel at the influence of Latin in his language! Congratulations to the Pope for this decision. Latin shall soon come back to life and the strength and depth of our academic and professional callings shall be appreciated the more. I suggest a little Greek also.
The notion that Latin is a dead language is grossly mistaken.
Latin doesn’t just live in ecclesiastical use.
Latin lives! And it doesn’t just live in its successor languages - Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and Romanian. It lives in the specialized languages of the professions - particularly law, medicine and the biological sciences.
Latin lives!
In fact, similar statements can be made of Greek (still spoken in Greece in a form almost unchanged since classical times) and to a lesser extent of Hebrew (a SPOKEN ancient language in Israel!).
Kudos for His Holiness the Pope. There is no substitute for a classical education.
Athanasius Scott Tonk
North Fort Myers, FL
Any form of taking classes over the Internet?
This begs the question concerning so much of what they are focusing on. And why is this important? How does Latin do anything to promote the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ and help in the salvation of the lost? Seems there are far more important matters for the church to be concerned with.
A knowledge of Latin helps to promote or spread the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ precisely because it is the basis of the languages I mentioned - Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French and Romanian. It even makes it easier to learn unrelated languages such as German (a Germanic language) and Russian (a Slavic language) - because one of the first things a missionary - which includes all of us to one degree or another - has to do is to learn the local language.
The study of Latin helped me to learn not only German - which I speak quite well - but also to pick up Spanish, Italian and French as well as to comprehend Romanian and even a bit of Russian.
This inter-relatedness of languages is not an accident, as they all - with the exception of Hungarian (Magyar), Finnish and Turkish - turkic languages - originated with an ancient Indo-European language called Sanskrit.
What is truly amazing is that the orthography of Latin (spelling patterns), its grammatical structure, the declensions of Latin nouns and conjugations of Latin verbs actually make it easier not only to learn other European languages, both Germanic and Slavic, but also to analyze and learn languages as far afield as African languages and even Japanese, a knowledge of all of which missionaries - including you and me - will find useful in spreading the Gospel.
How do you say “same-sex marriage”, in Latin?
What about the phrase “late term abortion”?
How is “Your right to religious freedom has been abolished, and our US Constitution has eroded to nothing” said in Latin?
Lastly, in Latin, how does one say: “We need MEN in our church that can LEAD, MEN that serve God, and don’t cave to peer pressure”?
Has everyone heard about the super priest (and his wonderful bishop) in Minnesota, that halted the Confirmation plans of a 17 year old boy, because the boy supported same sex marriage on his Facebook page? Good for that priest and his bishop. They taught this young fellow a lesson, and in English. Latin is great. But in the post-Christian world in which we live, let’s talk turkey with people, in English. What say you?
Nobody would be forced to study Latin, just as nobody is forced to study French, biology or geography. All we are saying is that Latin is an influential and important language, especially for the clerics and others in various professions like Law, Medicine and the Sciences. Even when Latin was in vogue, not everybody at the time studied it. It’s only a matter of choice and a requirement in some professions.
TO: TERAH JAMES [11-19-2012)
If the phrases you mention absolutely have to be said in Latin - and most really can be said in English - most of the words you cited are common English words that can easily be rendered into Latin words that are also fairly common:
1) “Same-sex marriage” easily translates into “sexus idem matrimonium” or “matrimonium homosexualis.”
2) “Late-term abortion” in Latin is “abortio termini seri.”
3) Most of the words in your sentence regarding religious freedom (in Latin: “libertas”) and the Constitution are also easy to translate, as they are derived directly from Latin, including the words “abolish” and “erode.”
4) Same thing with your fourth sample.
I am not necessarily advocating that we speak Latin, even in those professions and technical situations where a knowledge of Latin is desirable, so the above examples are highly unlikely to occur in common speech (On the other hand it is conceivable but admittedly unlikely that one might be required to write an essay in Latin).
On the other hand, I do maintain that a knowledge of Latin is highly useful in expanding one’s vocabulary (English is about 50% Latin-derived) and in learning other languages - should a person have a need to do so, which in our shrinking world is increasingly necessary.
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