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Interview with Fr Federico Lombardi; Vatican Press Officer
Topic Started: Friday, 29. May 2009, 22:18 (141 Views)
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The Catholic Herald this weeks carries an interview with the Pope's press officer, Fr Federico Lombardi
CH
 
The thing you immediately notice about the Pope's press officer, Fr Federico Lombardi, is his kindliness. Arriving for our interview, I say I had got into a panic. "Panic," he inquires, concerned. "Why?"
And he really seems relieved that I was only worried that my Dictaphone wasn't working. Fr Lombardi, born in 1942, is the shrewd and charismatic Jesuit who heads La Sala Stampa della Santa Sede, the Vatican Press Office. He's also relentlessly good-humoured. In fact, the more awkward the question, the more he appears to bubble over with jollity. What causes this - whether it's just his unflappable nature, or a practised defensive mechanism, or a sign of complacency - I can't say for sure.

Catholic Herald
I enjoyed reading it - he sounds really nice and devoted to Pope benedict

KatyA
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Derekap
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It is interesting to note that Fr Lombardi commented as follows:

'He doesn't favour a return to Latin as the language of the Church. "Latin is interesting and important," he says, "but it is not a working language."'
Derekap
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Deleted User
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Derekap
Saturday, 30. May 2009, 17:28
It is interesting to note that Fr Lombardi commented as follows:

'He doesn't favour a return to Latin as the language of the Church. "Latin is interesting and important," he says, "but it is not a working language."'
:goodpoint:
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Rose of York
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Fr Lombardi
 
Fr Lombardi thanks me for a compliment on the quality of his English speaking, but he concedes that "there is a real problem" with language in the Vatican. I wonder if the Vatican is ever slow to grasp the meaning of statements written or spoken in English. Not really, is the gist of his reply: most of his staff have perfectly good English and a selection of other languages too.

Still, "the problem with languages is one of the important issues that we have to see in the Vatican" and "a real problem" is translating Italian documents, with all their last-minute adjustments, into English quickly enough for the world's media. He aims "to organise better our resources" for rapid translation both in the press office and the radio department, which translated the texts for the Holy Land visit into Arabic. He doesn't favour a return to Latin as the language of the Church. "Latin is interesting and important," he says, "but it is not a working language."


I take it there is a difference between working and official language. Is Latin still the official language of the Church, for example, in master copies of encyclicals?

What languages were spoken at the Second Vatican Council? What languages are used now when a few bishops from different countries meet to discuss? Do they speak Latin, or use interpreters?
Keep the Faith!

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Derekap
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I don't remember the details, but I do remember reading that sometime ago a Bishop (or whatever title or rank) of a Catholic Oriental Rite insisted on simultaneous translation facility when he attended a gathering in the Vatican because he did not understand Latin. He was duly obliged.

It has occured to me that even if everyone present spoke and understood Latin the translations may not all precisely agree on the same meaning and emphasis in their own native languages.

Before anyone else makes the comment, I agree that simultaneous translations may not always be perfect. This is all because we, as humans, are not perfect.
Derekap
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PJD

"It has occured to me that even if everyone present spoke and understood Latin the translations may not all precisely agree on the same meaning and emphasis in their own native languages."

I agree with you Derek. Even we who contribute here and speak English get confused. Mind you this has already been a problem I suppose post Babel.

PJD
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