THE SYNERGY BETWEEN LATIN AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
BY
EDEM MATTHEW
(Kufre_tony@yahoo.com)
INTRODUCTION
Just as oil is responsible for the smooth mobility of any vehicle, so is the function of the Latin Language to the Church. The Church used herein, refers to the Holy Roman Catholic. This language has been at the heart of every catholic teaching, dealing and other activities all over the world. O wonder a famous Latin aphorism goes thus: Latina lingua ecclesia. The role of the Latin Language in the church cannot be overemphasized either can it be litotized. Just as language is very important in every communication, so is the one used by the Church. Without language, there can be no communication. As such, language is very important for the progressive success of any human assembly and relationship. Unlike any civil state that operates on the use a national language, the Catholic Church is a single institution with members all over the world. This diversity poses a difficulty in communication within the church. But with use of Latin, this fear of break in communication is allayed. This explains why the early church texts before the Vatican II council were written and read in Latin. Against this backdrop, this essay tends to present an erudite representation of the close affinity between the Latin language and the Catholic Church. To achieve this, this paper shall comprise of the following: the church and Latin, Church uses of Latin and an evaluative conclusion bringing to bear the relevance of the language in view to the church.
THE CHURCH AND LATIN
Latin is the official language of the Church whose headquarters is situated in the Vatican City. With the influence of the church on Vatican City, the increasing use of the language by the people in the Vatican City, Rome, also grew. Latin has been widely used by the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in all periods for ecclesiastical purposes. This language came as a late and was otherwise called sermo humilis, used to preach and otherwise communicate to the people in ordinary language. It is distinguished from classical Latin through some lexical structures and pronunciation which sound more like that of an Italian. It appears in various contexts, including theological works, liturgical rites, and dogmatic proclamations, and in various styles: as syntactically simple as in the Vulgate, as hieratic as in the Roman Canon of the Mass, as terse and technical as the language of Aquinas' Summa Theologica, and as Ciceronian as in Pope John Paul II's encyclical letter Fides et Ratio. In late antiquity and in the Low Middle Ages the intended audience or use determined the style the ecclesiastical writer employed; in modern times it depends on the context. Christian Latin refers to the Latin employed in their preaching and writing by Christians of ancient times.
CHURCH USES OF LATIN LANGUAGE
Throughout the history of the church, there has been a continuous use of the Latin language at one period or the other. For example, in the early church, ancient writings of the early church fathers were being written in Latin. St. Jerome, a prominent catholic scholar, translated the bible from Hebrew to Latin. This translation is what is known as the Latin Vulgate. In 1976, the Latinitas Foundation (Opus Fundatum Latinitas in Latin) was established by Pope Paul VI to promote the study and use of Latin. Its headquarters are in the Vatican City. The foundation publishes an eponymous quarterly in Latin. Other initiatives of the Latinitas Foundation include the publication (in Italian) of the 15,000-word Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis (Dictionary of Recent Latin),
One of the chief reasons for the survival of Latin resulted from the empire's domination over much of Europe for about 500 years. Even when the empire was gone, the use of Latin remained because it had been for so long the language of the ruling classes. An even more significant reason was the presence of the Christian church—still headquartere
THE SYNERGY BETWEEN LATIN AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
BY
EDEM MATTHEW
(Kufre_tony@yahoo.com)
INTRODUCTION
Just as oil is responsible for the smooth mobility of any vehicle, so is the function of the Latin Language to the Church. The Church used herein, refers to the Holy Roman Catholic. This language has been at the heart of every catholic teaching, dealing and other activities all over the world. O wonder a famous Latin aphorism goes thus: Latina lingua ecclesia. The role of the Latin Language in the church cannot be overemphasized either can it be litotized. Just as language is very important in every communication, so is the one used by the Church. Without language, there can be no communication. As such, language is very important for the progressive success of any human assembly and relationship. Unlike any civil state that operates on the use a national language, the Catholic Church is a single institution with members all over the world. This diversity poses a difficulty in communication within the church. But with use of Latin, this fear of break in communication is allayed. This explains why the early church texts before the Vatican II council were written and read in Latin. Against this backdrop, this essay tends to present an erudite representation of the close affinity between the Latin language and the Catholic Church. To achieve this, this paper shall comprise of the following: the church and Latin, Church uses of Latin and an evaluative conclusion bringing to bear the relevance of the language in view to the church.
THE CHURCH AND LATIN
Latin is the official language of the Church whose headquarters is situated in the Vatican City. With the influence of the church on Vatican City, the increasing use of the language by the people in the Vatican City, Rome, also grew. Latin has been widely used by the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in all periods for ecclesiastical purposes. This language came as a late and was otherwise called sermo humilis, used to preach and otherwise communicate to the people in ordinary language. It is distinguished from classical Latin through some lexical structures and pronunciation which sound more like that of an Italian. It appears in various contexts, including theological works, liturgical rites, and dogmatic proclamations, and in various styles: as syntactically simple as in the Vulgate, as hieratic as in the Roman Canon of the Mass, as terse and technical as the language of Aquinas' Summa Theologica, and as Ciceronian as in Pope John Paul II's encyclical letter Fides et Ratio. In late antiquity and in the Low Middle Ages the intended audience or use determined the style the ecclesiastical writer employed; in modern times it depends on the context. Christian Latin refers to the Latin employed in their preaching and writing by Christians of ancient times.
CHURCH USES OF LATIN LANGUAGE
Throughout the history of the church, there has been a continuous use of the Latin language at one period or the other. For example, in the early church, ancient writings of the early church fathers were being written in Latin. St. Jerome, a prominent catholic scholar, translated the bible from Hebrew to Latin. This translation is what is known as the Latin Vulgate. In 1976, the Latinitas Foundation (Opus Fundatum Latinitas in Latin) was established by Pope Paul VI to promote the study and use of Latin. Its headquarters are in the Vatican City. The foundation publishes an eponymous quarterly in Latin. Other initiatives of the Latinitas Foundation include the publication (in Italian) of the 15,000-word Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis (Dictionary of Recent Latin),
One of the chief reasons for the survival of Latin resulted from the empire's domination over much of Europe for about 500 years. Even when the empire was gone, the use of Latin remained because it had been for so long the language of the ruling classes. An even more significant reason was the presence of the Christian church—still headquartere
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Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
THE SYNERGY BETWEEN LATIN AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
BY
EDEM MATTHEW
(Kufre_tony@yahoo.com)
INTRODUCTION
Just as oil is responsible for the smooth mobility of any vehicle, so is the function of the Latin Language to the Church. The Church used herein, refers to the Holy Roman Catholic. This language has been at the heart of every catholic teaching, dealing and other activities all over the world. O wonder a famous Latin aphorism goes thus: Latina lingua ecclesia. The role of the Latin Language in the church cannot be overemphasized either can it be litotized. Just as language is very important in every communication, so is the one used by the Church. Without language, there can be no communication. As such, language is very important for the progressive success of any human assembly and relationship. Unlike any civil state that operates on the use a national language, the Catholic Church is a single institution with members all over the world. This diversity poses a difficulty in communication within the church. But with use of Latin, this fear of break in communication is allayed. This explains why the early church texts before the Vatican II council were written and read in Latin. Against this backdrop, this essay tends to present an erudite representation of the close affinity between the Latin language and the Catholic Church. To achieve this, this paper shall comprise of the following: the church and Latin, Church uses of Latin and an evaluative conclusion bringing to bear the relevance of the language in view to the church.
THE CHURCH AND LATIN
Latin is the official language of the Church whose headquarters is situated in the Vatican City. With the influence of the church on Vatican City, the increasing use of the language by the people in the Vatican City, Rome, also grew. Latin has been widely used by the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in all periods for ecclesiastical purposes. This language came as a late and was otherwise called sermo humilis, used to preach and otherwise communicate to the people in ordinary language. It is distinguished from classical Latin through some lexical structures and pronunciation which sound more like that of an Italian. It appears in various contexts, including theological works, liturgical rites, and dogmatic proclamations, and in various styles: as syntactically simple as in the Vulgate, as hieratic as in the Roman Canon of the Mass, as terse and technical as the language of Aquinas' Summa Theologica, and as Ciceronian as in Pope John Paul II's encyclical letter Fides et Ratio. In late antiquity and in the Low Middle Ages the intended audience or use determined the style the ecclesiastical writer employed; in modern times it depends on the context. Christian Latin refers to the Latin employed in their preaching and writing by Christians of ancient times.
CHURCH USES OF LATIN LANGUAGE
Throughout the history of the church, there has been a continuous use of the Latin language at one period or the other. For example, in the early church, ancient writings of the early church fathers were being written in Latin. St. Jerome, a prominent catholic scholar, translated the bible from Hebrew to Latin. This translation is what is known as the Latin Vulgate. In 1976, the Latinitas Foundation (Opus Fundatum Latinitas in Latin) was established by Pope Paul VI to promote the study and use of Latin. Its headquarters are in the Vatican City. The foundation publishes an eponymous quarterly in Latin. Other initiatives of the Latinitas Foundation include the publication (in Italian) of the 15,000-word Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis (Dictionary of Recent Latin),
One of the chief reasons for the survival of Latin resulted from the empire's domination over much of Europe for about 500 years. Even when the empire was gone, the use of Latin remained because it had been for so long the language of the ruling classes. An even more significant reason was the presence of the Christian church—still headquartere
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd