Latin - Is it useful today? Why has it been so useful in the past?

[JesuXPIPassio]

Is Latin still necessary? No. The Vatican could just as easily use English which is now the world’s lingua franca. Or, for papial documents, German, since that is the Holy Father’s native tongue.

Well, okay, we can say that nowadays it isn’t necessary, but the issue for me is whether or not it’s helpful and practical for a lay Catholic today.

By the by, having German as the Vatican language just wouldn’t be convenient. For starters, as administrations constantly change with the death and elections of popes, and seeing how we might not revert to the old mode of only Italian popes (at least not for the near future), the Vatican tongue would be constantly changing. It’s not practical for the people who work there. A lot of the Vatican workers are Italian, and generally they also know English and perhaps French and Spanish, but for the most part, Polish and German aren’t commonly spoken there. Having to learn a new language with every new administration would make it impossible for the Vatican officials to do their jobs, particlarly since the average papacy is about seven years long (265 pontificates in 2000 years). The journalists who cover the Vatican would also have to make the same concessions.

 

[JesuXPIPassio]

Um, no, it was neither dubious nor an assumption when I said that the Vatican documents today are written in the writers’ vernacular and then translated into Latin. I have a source for this – respected Vatican journalist John Allen’s books.

I stand by what I said. While it’s true that only the Latin documents are held as the official ones, they are still only just translations of the writers’ vernacular, which is usually Italian. Then those Latin documents are in turn translated into the various languages. But my point is, it all began with the Italian, not the Latin, and I have the sources to back it up.

In all seriousness… the original poster makes some dubious assumptions. The most important papal documents that are addressed for the universal Church (ie: Enyclicals, Apostolic Constitutions, letters) are first written in Latin, then translated to modern languages (ie: English, French). In fact, the Church holds that the original Latin text of such a writing is the only official version, while the translations into modern languages are subject to the Latin original and are merely that… (unofficial) translations.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Gottle, Gottle, Gottle!!! Please! Some of us who enjoy reading your posts are reaching that age where we need a bigger font!

As for the above, there was a discussion of this on these forums and someone posted information that this idea was actually condemned. And if it wasn’t, it should have been, not so much as heretical as simply silly. Pilate wanted those who passed by, who COULD read, to be aware of what got Christ crucified, so he posted it in the languages most likely to be read in that region. If it had happened in Egypt, would hieorglyphs have been sacred? If it happened in Babylon, would cuneiform have been holy? It was an accident of empire. The purpose of language is to convey meaning. The above renders Latin no more ontologically sacred than the grafitti in Pompeii renders it foul.

Talking of Babylon - to enter and see the joys of its language, press the icon .​

Latin, whatever other difficulties it may present, does not require one to master a fresh system of writing: as do (up to a point) Greek, &, far more, Akkadian (which is written with cuneiform, or “wedge-shaped” signs; that’s what those angular things below are)

sron.nl/~jheise/akkadian/title.gif

 

[Fidelia]

How come we hold Latin to be such a sacred language? I understand that it was important back in the time of Saint Jerome, but it doesn’t seem to have the same practicality in today’s world. Saint Jerome translated Greek into Latin because Latin was what people spoke in his day. This is no longer true. So isn’t Latin as a standard for us no longer practical?

Greek was the Church’s language even before Latin was. Yet we don’t hold Greek in the same esteem. I might understand it if Latin was Jesus’ language, but it wasn’t, and we don’t hold Aramaic or Hebrew the same way we do Latin.

Today, is there any practicality for a lay person to learn Latin? It’s no longer the liturgical language. While the Vatican’s documents are primarily in Latin, they always have translations of them into languages that people understand. And in truth, the Vatican officials don’t even actually compose those documents in Latin; rather, they write in whatever their native tongue is and then translate that into Latin.

Could anyone give me opinions on this? Why would a Catholic – an everyday lay person, not a theologian reading Aquinas – benefit from understanding Latin?

I am a classics major. I have been studying Latin since high school and I cannot even tell you how much better my vocabulary is because of it. As well as my better understanding of English grammar, believe it or not.

Does a Catholic need to learn Latin, no, not for religious purposes, but one can certainly benefit from it.
I think Latin became the language of the Church when the Roman emperor became Christian. Or had something to do with that having happened. My history is blurry. I think that using Latin in the Church (documents and such as was mentioned) shows how much hope there is for people learning about God. The Romans were polytheistic pagans. Very polytheistic and very pagan. And were punishing Christians for an amount of time. (See the movie Quo Vadis, it is really good). and then for the emperor to actually be Christian, that is amazing.

 

[drforjc]

Cardinal Arinze recently wrote about Latin as a liturgical language:

adoremus.org/Arinze_StLouis06.html

 

[Lady_Cygnus]

Why keep the latin?

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

sounds much better chanted than

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.