Ecclesiastical Latin - Current Use

Current Use

Latin remains the main official language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Up until the 1960s (and still later in Roman colleges like the Gregorian) Roman Catholic priests studied theology using Latin textbooks, and the language of instruction in many seminaries was also Latin. The use of Latin in pedagogy and in theological research, however, has since declined. Nevertheless, Church law requirements that seminary formation provide for a thorough training in Latin still remain. Latin was still spoken in recent international gatherings of Roman Catholic leaders, such as the Second Vatican Council, and is still used at conclaves to elect a new Pope. The Tenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2004 was the most recent to have a Latin language group for discussions.

Although Latin is the traditional liturgical language of the Roman (Latin) Church, the liturgical use of the vernacular has predominated since the liturgical reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council. The Church law currently in force for the Latin Church stipulates that the Sacrifice of the Mass may be carried out in the Latin language or in another language provided that the liturgical texts have been legitimately approved. The exclusive use of Latin in liturgical celebrations is retained in an authorized extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, commonly called the "Tridentine Mass".