Breathing Life Into a "Dead Language"
Even though today the Mass is usually said in the vernacular (the common language of the country in which it is celebrated), Latin remains the official language of worship in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. While most people probably realize that, fewer likely know that Latin, far from being a "dead language" as far as Catholics are concerned, remains the official language of governance in the Catholic Church as well. Official Church documents are available in many different languages, but the Latin version is always the one that is binding in case of any dispute.
For many years, however, most official documents have been composed in another language (primarily Italian) and later translated into Latin. Sometimes, that has led to confusion, because the official translations have to be made from the Latin, even when the document wasn't originally written in Latin. Under Pope Benedict XVI, that has begun to change, and more documents are being released first in Latin.
As part of this attempt to raise the profile of the official language of the Church, the Vatican now has a version of its website entirely in Latin. (The website, www.vatican.va, is also available in German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese.) Interestingly, it's the best-looking version of the website, and the homepage features a large photo of Pope Benedict himself composing in Latin.
In addition to Latin versions of the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Code of Canon Law, and the documents of Vatican II, the Latin version of the website includes the texts of important documents released by the last five popes, from Pope John XXIII to Pope Benedict XVI. There is also a section for the Roman Curia where documents related to the various offices of the Vatican can be found.
In that last section, there is a link to Latinitas, a foundation created in 1976 by Pope Paul VI and dedicated to the study of Latin, of classical and Christian literature and medieval Latin, and to the promotion of Latin through the publishing of books and journals in Latin.
Catholics and others interested in Latin will find much of interest. And the next time someone tells you that Latin is a dead language, you can direct him to the Vatican's website!
My understanding of a dead language is that the meanings of the words never change, not that it has fallen out of common use. Thus, a dead language, such as Latin has an advantage over a living language, such as English, in which meanings of words may change from generation to generation.
I’m confused over a ‘dead language’ comment.Is it positive or negative?
My understanding is that Latin was origianally used because it was the common tongue, or vulgate, in the first few centuries of the Church. After the fall of the Roman Empire and with the rise of the various dialects during the middle ages, Latin was the common denominator, even though it was no longer spoken. As time went on, being a dead language has become a positive characteristic of Latin, just as Terence said. That is why the Church continues to use it in modern times, so that the definition of words will not change over the centuries, as it does in modern, living languages.