What the Popes have said in the last 100 years:

Pope Francis (2013–2025)

"Latin is a treasure trove of knowledge and thought... it represents the roots of western civilization and, in many ways, our very identity."

Message for the Pontifical Academies Award (2024)

Pope Benedict XVI (2005–2013)

"I ask that future priests, from their time in the seminary, receive the preparation needed to understand and to celebrate Mass in Latin... the faithful can be taught to recite the more common prayers in Latin"

Sacramentum Caritatis ( 2007)

Pope St. John Paul II (1978–2005)

"We exhort all of you... to continue this noble work and to hold high the torch of Latin, which is also a bond between men of different tongues"

Certamen Vaticanum (1978)

Pope St. Paul VI (1963–1978)

"For [Latin] is... an abundant well-spring of Christian civilization and a very rich treasure trove of devotion."

Sacrificium Laudis (1966)

Pope St. John XXIII (1958–1963)

"The Latin language... has been consecrated through constant use by the Apostolic See"

Veterum Sapientia (1962)

Pope Pius XII (1939–1958)

"The use of the Latin language... is a manifest and beautiful sign of unity, as well as an effective antidote for any corruption of doctrinal truth."

Mediator Dei (1947)

Pope Pius XI (1922–1939)

"For the Church, which embraces all nations until the end of time... requires a language which is universal, immutable, and non-vernacular"

Officiorum Omnium (1922)

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What Church Councils have said:

Second Vatican Council (1962–1965)

"the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites."

(Sacrosanctum Concilium, 36, 1963)

Council of Trent (1545–1563)

"If any one saith... that the mass ought to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue only... let him be anathema (excommunicated)."

(Session XXII, Canon IX, 1562)

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What Doctors of the Church have said:

St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787)

"The Church has judged it proper that the Sacrifice should be celebrated in the Latin language, which is unchangeable... if the Mass were celebrated in the vernacular... the meaning of the words would also be changed."

The History of Heresies, Refutation X (1770)

St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622)

"The Church... must have a language which is universal, fixed, and unchanging, to avoid the confusion of Babel... For if the Mass were in the vernacular, the words would be continually changing."

The Catholic Controversy, Part II, Article VI (1596)

St. Charles Borromeo (1538–1584)

"[seminarians] should... speak and write Latin correctly and purely."

Institutiones ad Universum Seminarii Regimen (1570)

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)

"But now, because in the Church all speak the one tongue, namely, the Latin, there is no need for such a gift [of tongues]... because this [Latin] tongue is common to all."

Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Chapter 14 (1265)

St. Isidore of Seville (560–636)

"There are three sacred languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Latin... for in these three languages, the case of the Lord was written upon the cross by Pontius Pilate."

Etymologies (Etymologiae), Book IX, Chapter 1 (625)

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