The Vatican today launches two weekly programs in Latin. A five-minute summary of the news will be read in the official language of the Roman Catholic Church, followed by a longer program about the Latin language.
Hebdomada Papae, notitiae vaticanae latine redditae, or “The pope’s week in review: Vatican news bulletin in Latin,” will be edited by veteran Vatican Radio journalist Alessandro De Carolis.
The new programming is a collaboration with the Vatican’s Latin Letters Office, a department of the Secretariat of State where Church documents are written in or translated into Latin.
After the news bulletin, Vatican Radio Italy will broadcast an in-depth program dedicated to the rediscovery of the value and beauty of the Latin language. Anima Latina, radio colloquia de lingua ecclesiae will feature Father Waldemar Turek, director of the Latin Letters Office.
The programs will be broadcast to the world on Vatican Radio frequencies through the Italian-language audio channels, but will also be accessible through the Vatican News website. They will soon be available on the English-language audio frequencies as well.
Vatican Radio’s Editorial Director Andrea Tornielli said Hebdomada Papae aims to breathe new life into the language.
“We did not conceive it with a nostalgic look to the past, but as a challenge for the future,” he said.
Tornielli noted that Latin already “resonates daily on the frequencies of Vatican Radio, which every morning broadcasts Mass in Latin.”
