All Roads Lead to Rome

What’s the use in learning a dead language? This question, and others similar to it, is the main response given to the study of Latin. And to be fair, the question is not without merit. Latin spoken as the vernacular of a given population died well over a millennium ago. But it never truly went out of use. The Catholic Church has become the steward of the Latin language, bringing it forward to the present day.

It is mistakenly believed by some that the reforms of Vatican II made Latin obsolete for the Church. And yet both of the popes who oversaw the Council, Pope St. John XXIII and Pope St. Paul VI, stressed the continuing significance of the Latin language. John XXIII believed that Latin ought to have a primary place in the Western Church, as it “can truly be called catholic” and was “consecrated through constant use by the Apostolic See.” Paul VI called Latin the “language of angels” and, even in allowing the use of the vernacular in the Novus Ordo, was disturbed by attempts to abandon Gregorian chant or suppress Latin entirely. According to Paul VI, Latin was the language of the Church, an essential inheritance that had been treasured and safeguarded for millenia. He warned us not to “hold in low esteem these traditions of your fathers which were your glory for centuries.” Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis have all also praised Latin and its study.

Nearly all Church documents, past and present, have been written in Latin. Many Church Fathers wrote in Latin. And while many of these documents have been translated into English, plenty others have not. Further, no translation could ever capture the full meaning of the original language, particularly two very different languages like Latin and English. Beyond just losing the rich meanings contained within certain words, the original sentence structures and style of the document cannot remain intact. By learning the original language, we can come to a deeper, fuller understanding of the heritage of the Latin Church.

The richness of Latin also comes through in the classic works of the Romans. The greatest artistic work of the Romans, the Aeneid, cannot be fully appreciated in anything other than Latin. An epic poem, Virgil fills it with rich imagery and complex literary devices. Very often these cannot be translated well into English, which results in a product that might be good as poetry and yet lacks the distinct qualities that set it apart. In particular, English translations of Latin cannot capture the word order decisions of the original. Latin as a language is very flexible in its sentence structure, since words are grouped by their endings. As a result, translating a single sentence from Latin to English could involve changing the position of every single word, fundamentally altering the way in which we read the words.

John XXIII recognized the complexity of Latin, and so extolled its value in education. It “exercises, matures and perfects the principal faculties of mind and spirit” and improves our judgment. Latin is a well structured language, with recognizable categories of nouns and verbs. The grammar in Latin is consistent and logical and, especially at first, translating a sentence of Latin is something like solving a puzzle. The formal consistency and richness of Latin also makes it ideal as a way to enhance our understanding of English, both in terms of grammar and vocabulary. Well over half of all English words trace their origin to either Latin or Greek (another great language), providing a clear incentive for study for anyone looking to improve their speech and grasp on the language. With regards to grammar, the benefits are immense. It can be difficult for a native speaker to learn concepts that come naturally to them. By stepping outside of their own language and into one like Latin, which has such a clear and precise grammatical structure, English speakers can get a better grasp of English grammar. I myself can certainly attest to this.

Rather than toss out the learning that has been passed down to us for millennia, it would do us well to sit down and consider what these traditions mean for us. And when we do, we realize that omnes viae ducunt Romam.

Featured image courtesy of Jonathan Rome via RomeOnRome