Does His Holiness use the Royal "We"?

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I know JPII didn’t, but I heard that Benedict continued the practice.
 
No, not as far as I can tell. Spe Salvi ends “the third of my Pontificate” whereas Pope John XXIII’s Aeterna Dei Sapientia ends “the fourth of Our Pontificate”. This is just cursory research, though, I don’t have time to search any deeper.

Sure wish he would bring that back, though.
 
Summorum Pontificum uses the royal “we” extensively.

Example:
We order that everything We have established with these Apostolic Letters issued as Motu Proprio be considered as “established and decreed”, and to be observed from 14 September of this year, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, whatever there may be to the contrary.
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From Rome, at St. Peter’s, 7 July 2007, third year of Our Pontificate.
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ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/b16SummorumPontificum.htm
 
Pope_Noah_I said:
I know JPII didn’t, but I heard that Benedict continued the practice.
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He has been using the royal “we” at least sometimes. For example, he used it in Summorum Pontificum:
Up to** our **own times, it has been the constant concern of supreme pontiffs to ensure that the Church of Christ offers a worthy ritual to the Divine Majesty, “to the praise and glory of His name,” and “to the benefit of all His Holy Church.”… **We **order that everything We have established with these Apostolic Letters issued as Motu Proprio be considered as “established and decreed”, and to be observed from 14 September of this year, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, whatever there may be to the contrary.
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Edit: It looks like arieh0310 responded while I was writing my response and used the exact same example. Great minds…
 
Actually, it’s the Papal “we”, and is used to represent the close relationship between Jesus and Peter, whose successor the current Pope is.

The last Pope to use the Papal “we” with any regularity was Paul VI.

JP2 often used the first person, but also referred to himself in the third person quite often.

As to Benedict using it, the only evidence that I can find of Benedict using the Papal we is in his first address to the cardinals shortly after his election. In this latin speech, several self-referencing terms end in “mus” a suffix that usually denotes the plural. This is the same thing that is seem above in the MP.

In order to determine whether or not the Papal we in present, it is usually best to consult the original latin documents, as translations of the papal we are sometimes rendered as I.

It seems that Benedict has (from the documents I’ve seen) adopted a bit of a mixed practice.
 
Markstorm said:
No, not as far as I can tell. Spe Salvi ends “the third of my Pontificate” whereas Pope John XXIII’s Aeterna Dei Sapientia ends “the fourth of Our Pontificate”. This is just cursory research, though, I don’t have time to search any deeper.

Sure wish he would bring that back, though.
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Actually the Latin says “Nostri” (Our) but for some reason the English never translates it so.
 
Pope Benedict has taken to reffering to himself in the plural in important documents, while using the singular in personal letters and such. The plural emphasizes his authority as part of the continuous authority of the Roman Pontiffs from the time of Peter.

However, most of the English translations neglect to recognize that.

Maybe soon we’ll be able to reffer to him as His Holy Lordship again 😃
 
Also, does anyone know why he doesn’t refer to the faithful as “My Children” rather than “Dear Brothers and Sisters”?
 
Take a look at this excerpt from Deus Caritas Est:

First, in English:
In a world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence, this message is both timely and significant. For this reason,** I wish in my first Encyclical** to speak of the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others.
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Then, in Latin:
In orbe, ubi cum Dei nomine nonnumquam etiam vindicta quin immo officium odii et violentiae coniunguntur, hic nuntius magnum habet in praesentia pondus atque certam quandam significationem. Hac de causa in his Nostris primis Encyclicis Litteris de amore cupimus loqui quo Deus nos replet quique a nobis cum aliis communicari debet.
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Literally, it comes out to mean “In *our *first encyclical, we wish…etc.”

I noticed this a while back.

-ACEGC
 
The english translations of Church documents are generally very poor, on top of which it is not uncommon for the translators “tweak” the text to their own liking (just compare the english version of the Novus Ordo with the Latin original).

The issue of the use of the plural in the writings of His Holiness are but one example of the poor quality of translations.
 
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