Leo XIV and Latin

Expect improvement, but not much.

A lot of language enthusiasts are wondering what the new Pope will do for Latin. Having worked as a Latinist for Popes Benedict XVI and Francis, I can say with some confidence, “not much.”

I know that sounds flippant, but I assure you I mean nothing against Leo, Francis, Benedict, or any of their predecessors since Vatican II. The decline of Latin and its use in the Roman Curia has been consistent for at least fifty years, and there is little reason to think it will get either better or worse.

Latin is still the “official” language of the Roman Catholic Church and the Magisterium, and I have little doubt anything will ever take its place. But it is not the “working” language of the Roman Curia, and likely never will be again. Italian has had that status for some time, though English has practically replaced it over the last two decades. A few Cardinals have mentioned the importance of having had English-speaking electors on hand during the recent conclave, as many members of the College who needed help did not have Italian as a second language.

Whether Latin is given more prominence in his public ministry is entirely up to Pope Leo. His ability is unquestionable, as was Francis’s and Benedict’s. Many think the promotion of Latin is entirely dependent upon the Latin competency of the current Pontiff. That is simply untrue. What really matters is the day-to-day work of the Curia, and especially the Secretariat of State, where I worked for ten years.

There were some troubling signs of Latin’s place in the Magisterium during the last Pontificate. Encyclicals, for example, were being released in the vernacular before the Latin version was ready. We were still working on Laudato Si’, for example, ten months after its “official” release.

But I’ll let you in on a little secret. This is partially deliberate in order to allow time to gauge an encyclical’s acceptance and ascertain if any tweaks are necessary. By not having the official Latin version published right away, we can receive feedback from Vatican watchers, scientists, and theological experts and amend the Latin version as much as we want before publication. 

That alone should tell you that the Latin version, though official, is not the base text anymore. Whereas a hundred years ago the Latin version was produced first and then the vernaculars were rendered as translations of it, now the Latin version is the last to be completed and is essentially a fine-tuned and carefully raked Latin translation of the Italian.

Leo XIV sang the Regina Caeli on his first Sunday in office. Great! But again, such a gesture, though symbolic, has a negligible impact on the use of Latin in the day-to-day work of the Church and, in my opinion, on promoting the Latin language more generally.

The moment of deepest disappointment came when Leo XIV delivered his homily at the Mass with the College of Cardinals on the day after his election not in Latin, but Italian. Though terribly unfortunate, there are good reasons that Francis did the same, which I explain here. Benedict XVI was the last pope to give that particular homily in Latin, though I harbor some hope that a future pope will reinstate the tradition.

Rather than go through the entire range of Latin documents promulgated by the pope, I will focus on one type that has consistently been challenged over the last fifty years: congratulatory letters to Bishops and Cardinals on important anniversaries of their ordination. Every bishop receives one, even the Bishop emeritus of Yakima in Washington:

Venerabilem Fratrem Carolum Arturum Sevilla, S.I., Episcopum olim Yakimensem, cum quinque lustra episcopalis ordinationis suae commemoret, precibus Nostris benigne prosequimur et, faustum hunc eventum ei ominantes, Benedictionem Apostolicam, paternae Nostrae benevolentiae pignus, ei ex animo elargimur, preces ab eo pro gravi ministerio Nostro fungendo rogantes.

Ex Aedibus Vaticanis, die altero mensis Maii, anno MMXVI, Iubilaeo Misericordiae.

I’ll let you and your students translate it, but you can see that it follows a rather elegant formulaic pattern, even though each letter is written uniquely for the individual, bringing to the fore some particular accomplishment or character trait for which the Holy Father is particularly grateful. 

Of course, there are a few instances in which a Bishop has accomplished next to nothing and has no particular character trait to praise, but I won’t embarrass any prelates by offering examples.

Year after year, there is an internal discussion within the Secretariat of State as to whether these congratulatory letters should be composed in the recipient’s vernacular language. Though these letters are in no way “Magisterial,” it would be lamentable to give into that temptation. It is these rather lighthearted, though nonetheless heartfelt congratulatory letters that give ecclesiastical Latin a human face and foster fraternal bonds among the episcopate, privileging no country or language in the pope’s expression of appreciation and thanks for their diligent pastoral service.

On the Magisterial front, things are more dire. Despite its title, there is still no official Latin version of the highly controversial Declaration from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on “the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings” entitled Fiducia Supplicans, and there likely never will be. This opens up a can of worms in that it does not establish a non-vernacular foundational text that can be used to resolve misinterpretations and distortions of the document’s meaning. Practically speaking, the “official” version is now the one published in the Italian edition of the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, though that doesn’t help matters much since even that version—albeit the original in most cases—is considered a “translation.”

I am all for a wider and more deliberate use of Latin in the Church and in the Roman Curia. But if you are waiting for the Catholic Church to make a meaningful impact on Latin education or a wider general interest in Latin, you are wasting your time. Yes, the pope will keep sending out Latin messages on X and they may be somewhat effective gimmicks for stimulating interest in Latin among young people, but those who will really make a difference—those who will instill in their students a lifelong hunger to read as much Latin as possible—are the teachers who open up the treasures of the Psalms, Augustine, Leo the Great, Anselm, Bernard, Bonaventure, and a host of others who exemplify some of the finest Latin ever written.

The future of Latin depends on teachers, not the Church. A Latin Mass will nourish a young person’s soul, but as for long-term Latin passion, a Mass will only whet his or her appetite.

Initial signs seem to indicate that Leo XIV will be more supportive of Latin than his predecessor, but whatever support he lends to the language, he will unlikely promote it any more than Benedict XVI did, though Benedict was arguably the best Latinist to occupy the Chair of Peter in over a century.