Vatican official sees revival of interest in Latin
CWN – September 25, 2012
An official who works for the Vatican’s Office of Latin Letters has observed a revival of interest in Latin in the Church, particularly among the younger clergy.
“Young people are experiencing a dryness at not being able to connect to what preceded us, both ecclesiastically but also simply historically in the West,” said Msgr. Daniel Gallagher, 42, of Michigan. “Young people … are searching to understand who they are and where they’ve come from, and [are] themselves choosing to take Latin.”
“Part of re-evangelizing that culture has to reconnect [Europeans] with Latinity in its large sense, not just the language but the whole human tradition in which the Christian message was presented 1500 years ago,” he added as he reflected on the link between the revival of Latin and the new evangelization.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who will play a leading role at the upcoming synod of bishops on the new evangelization, plans to deliver two major addresses in Latin.
Additional sources for this story: A Vatican Latin expert finds new uses for an ancient language (CNS) www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1203950.htm