Reggie Foster: Latin's Conservator

Fire of Liberty

Here's a good article in today's issue of USA Today on Reggie Foster who is a professor and the Vatican's chief Latin expert and translator of all official texts in the Holy See. I really enjoyed the profile, especially the last paragraphs of the article. See below:

The Rev. Gary Coulter, 32, a pastor in Ashland, Neb., and an alumnus of two of Foster's classes, says that Foster is without peer as a Latinist. "Reggie may be a little rough around the edges," Coulter says. "But there is no better teacher of Latin in the world."

Foster demurs. "I'm trying to help people who want to learn Latin," he says with a shrug. "But there is only so much one man can do."

Unless that man is the pope. Foster notes that the newly installed Pope Benedict XVI, the former cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, speaks excellent Latin. "The problem comes with those under him, the bishops, the priests, the seminarians," Foster says. "They don't have a clue!"

Though he recognizes it is unlikely, Foster says the language would get a great boost if Benedict XVI used Latin more than previous popes. "Latin is a beautiful and poetic language, and people would pay attention to it if the pope spoke the language, spoke it from his heart," Foster says.

He says he would be thrilled to see the pontiff go to New York and address the United Nations in Latin. "The pope could stand there before the nations of the world and say, "Vobiscum loquar lingua Latina! Haec mihi videntur facienda esse!' ("I am speaking with you in the Latin language! It seems to me that these things need to be done!')," Foster suggests.

His eyes sparkle, and he flashes a mischievous grin: "He could speak to them in Latin and tell them that if they don't like it, they can just go home!"

After reading this, I'd say that Reggie Foster is a must in the Holy See and a conservator of a glorious language that is the chain that links the Catholic Church with the Western Tradition. I just wish I had learned some Latin in college. I'll just buy a Latin/English dictionary out of respect for Foster and Pope Benedict XVI.