Veterum Sapientia & Latin Academy?

[Geremia]

Pope John XXIII wrote the apostolic constitution Veterum Sapientia relatively recently (1962), yet is has gone almost entirely unheeded today. He says:

Hence professors of these sciences in universities or seminaries are required to speak Latin and to make use of textbooks writ ten in Latin. If ignorance of Latin makes it difficult for some to obey these instructions, they shall gradually be replaced by professors who are suited to this task. Any difficulties that may be advanced by students or professors must be overcome by the patient insistence of the bishops or religious superiors, and the good will of the professors.

He wants Latin read in textbooks and spoken at Catholic universities, too! Wow, that is amazing! He also calls for

the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Universities to set up a Latin Academy staffed by an international body of Latin and Greek professors. The principal aim of this Academy—like the national academies founded to promote their respective languages—will be to superintend the proper development of Latin, augmenting the Latin lexicon where necessary with words which conform to the particular character and color of the language.

What ever happened to his proposed Latin Academy that he wanted the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Universities to setup? Did it exist? If so, does it still exist?

 

[Cluny]

I would put this on the same level with a document by Pope Pius XI condemning co-education that you quoted.

Obviously, the faithful didn’t receive it, or it proved to be unworkable.

I’m not aware of any scientific treatises in Latin since Newton’s PRINCIPIA. Significantly, his next major work, OPTICS, was in English.

It’s hard to teach from books that don’t exist.

BTW–the above is NOT to say anything against the Latin language itself.

 

[Geremia]

I’m not aware of any scientific treatises in Latin since Newton’s PRINCIPIA. Significantly, his next major work, OPTICS, was in English.

I think Pope John XXIII was speaking of theology classes.

 

[Cluny]

I think Pope John XXIII was speaking of theology classes.

You should have made that clear to start with.

 

[Joannm]

I think Pope John XXIII was speaking of theology classes.

Even in Pontifical Universities in Rome classes are not taught in Latin.

 

[Cluny]

Even in Pontifical Universities in Rome classes are not taught in Latin.

I know someone who studied in Rome decades ago–Propaganda Fide, to be exact–and classes were in Italian.

 

[Geremia]

On the Latin Vatican website, I found out about Latinitas (click here Latin version), which Pope Paul VI founded in 1976, in ,Romani sermonis which

has the following objectives: 1) to promote the study of the Latin language, classical literature and Medieval Latin;
2) to promote the increased use of the Latin language by publishing texts in Latin and other suitable means.
Among its principal activities are: - the journal Latinitas, founded in 1953. Latinitas is written completely in Latin and is published four times a year. It deals with cultural topics in the areas of literature, philology, history, the sciences and other disciplines. Particular attention is given to the * Diarium Latinum* which deals with current issues in a journalistic style;
- the * Certamen Vaticanum, an international Latin poetry and prose competition, also established in 1953. Prizes are awarded to the winners towards the end of the year;
- the organization of intensive Latin language courses* according to the so-called natural method, i.e. the teaching of Latin by speaking Latin;
- the organization of congresses, conferences and debates on Latin culture;
- the promotion of the * Lexicon recentis Latinitatis, an important dictionary of neologisms: it contains over 15,000 words. Experts from all over the world have contributed to this work;
- the * Feriae Latinae.

The Lexicon recentis Latinitatis is fun; it has all the Vatican-approved neologisms (most of which are in Italian in the first column and Latin in the second).