Latin was almost abandoned in the Church, but it's making a comeback...
Vatican Latin expert Msgr. Daniel Gallagher talks about the church's near-abandonment of the ancient language and the current renaissance in the study and use of Latin.
With the rise of modern multi-culturalism, we no longer feel apprehensive about anything being in a "foreign language". I come from a very multicultural diocese where to most parishioners, Latin is just another language to them. They might speak Arabic, Vietnamese or Italian at home, English at school and use Latin at Church.
Personally, I found that Latin had the greatest impact on me when I went to World Youth Day in Madrid, 2011. I have almost zero grasp of Spanish, but was able to pray with other pilgrims by singing Latin chants and using Latin prayers. With only 1 semester of formal Latin education under my belt I even managed to have a conversation with a French Medical student on a flight from Lyon to Madrid who had a similar level of Latin.
I felt very excluded at a mass in Avila where the entire Ordinary was prayed in Spanish. Had it been in Latin, at least I would have known the responses and some of the common prayers.
I do support the use of vernacular liturgy and in fact teach English and Latin Plainchant to whomever wishes to learn. But if we abandon Latin, our universal language which breaks down barriers, we're not going to have a truly universal Church.
With the rise of modern multi-culturalism, we no longer feel apprehensive about anything being in a "foreign language". I come from a very multicultural diocese where to most parishioners, Latin is just another language to them. They might speak Arabic, Vietnamese or Italian at home, English at school and use Latin at Church.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I found that Latin had the greatest impact on me when I went to World Youth Day in Madrid, 2011. I have almost zero grasp of Spanish, but was able to pray with other pilgrims by singing Latin chants and using Latin prayers. With only 1 semester of formal Latin education under my belt I even managed to have a conversation with a French Medical student on a flight from Lyon to Madrid who had a similar level of Latin.
I felt very excluded at a mass in Avila where the entire Ordinary was prayed in Spanish. Had it been in Latin, at least I would have known the responses and some of the common prayers.
I do support the use of vernacular liturgy and in fact teach English and Latin Plainchant to whomever wishes to learn. But if we abandon Latin, our universal language which breaks down barriers, we're not going to have a truly universal Church.