Starting from an interest first seen on Twitter, Vatican Radio is now broadcasting in a new language: Latin.
The show, Hebdomada Papae, Notitiae Vaticanae Latine Redditae is mainly run by two journalists. One of whom is Alessandro De Carolis.
ALESSANDRO DE CAROLIS
Journalist Vatican Radio Latin
“This idea was started by the inituition of our editorial director, Andrea Tornielli. For a while, he had been thinking of making a program that spoke about papal and Vatican information in Latin.”
While the journalists hosting the show didn't professionally study Latin, they say their ease in front of a microphone helps them while they are trying out the classic Roman language.
ALESSANDRO DE CAROLIS
Journalist Vatican Radio Latin
“Latin is a difficult language to pronounce because its sentence construction is different. So when you read a news clip, normally there is an intonation typical for news. But doing it in Latin isn't easy.”
The five-minute show airs once a week, on Saturday afternoon local Italian time.
Immediately after is a 25-minute program called Anima Latina. One of the parts of this show is translating modern words in Latin that perhaps do not have an official translation. It is run by Fabio Colagrande, the Vice-Coordinator for Vatican Radio Italia.
FABIO COLAGRANDE
Journalist Vatican Radio Latin
“It's a program that we try to do in an attractive and in the lightest way possible so people can understand that while Latin is an antique language, it still has many fans.”
The goal of the 30-minute radio program is also for students studying Latin to be able to improve listening skills.
They assert the radio program hopes to preserve the ancient values associated with Latin, like culture and history, linking one to the past.
By: Melissa Butz
