(A closeup of the illuminated letter P in the 1407AD Latin Bible on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England..)
“Pro Dei amore Latinam linguam discite”.
If you don’t know what that means, Pope Benedict is on your case.
In fact, he’s not only on your case, he’s on your declension, your conjugation, your tense, your person, your voice and your mood.
“Pro Dei amore Latinam linguam discite” means “For the love of God, study Latin!” And that is what the pope wants to see more of.
At the weekend, he started a new Vatican department to promote the study and use of Latin in the Roman Catholic Church and beyond.
The Vatican said the pope, who is clearly the literary kind of Latin lover, had instituted the Pontifical Academy for Latin Studies, placing it under the auspices of the Vatican’s ministry for culture.
