Mgr Anton Gauci (The Sunday Times, April 15) gave a clear and detailed exposition of the situation affecting the use and teaching of Latin in Malta in 2007.

For over 400 years, before and since the Council of Trent (1545-1563), Latin was the official ecclesiastical language in Malta and Gozo both for Mass, benediction, the rosary and church music. It even had close connections to the classical world of the Roman republic and empire, with learned dissertations and erudite verse or poetry and prose.

The use of Latin in the Western Catholic world was in antithesis to the use of Greek and other languages in the Eastern (Orthodox and Catholic) world: Rome versus Constantinople and mainland Greece.

When Vatican Council II was convened in 1962-65 in Rome, Catholic dioceses around the world were advised to introduce their vernacular language, as Protestant countries had done earlier in the 16th century: English, German, Danish, Swedish, etc. In Malta this was taken as a sign to drop Latin altogether in one fell swoop. It was no longer, or hardly at all, taught at the Lyceum or in the local Church schools, and barely at the Major Seminary, if I am correct.

The introduction of church rites in Maltese brought the religious message closer to the people. However, a millennial culture like Latin was done away with, and lost. Was this radical change wise? And did Latin have to go altogether?

Latin is not only a language; it is also a discipline, being highly organised and stratified. It trains the mind to seek and effect order in language, art, architecture and music. It is an economical language with noun cases and disciplined sentence construction. It is the historical language of Western Europe par excellence, and has influenced the vocabulary of not only the Latin languages such as Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Romanian, but even of the Germanic languages such as English, and even Dutch and German.

If Latin were to be revived in school teaching in Malta and Gozo, newly trained teachers and professors such as the late Canon Carmel Pirotta and Mgr Professor Edward Coleiro, would have to be found. But first and foremost, there has to be a serious and stable policy favouring the teaching of Latin emanating from the Department of Education and the University of Malta.

Latin is still taught in Germany's 'gymnasium' or lyceum(s). In England one of the oldest courses and disciplines at Oxford University is that of the 'Greats': Greek and Latin. I believe it is still taught in Holland, and of course in France, Spain and Italy. So why was Maltese policy after 1965 so radical and, in part, destructive?

Latin is a culture that is worth preserving, since it opens doors to such subjects as European languages and music, archaeology and architecture, and the study of balance and equilibrium.

Church rites will remain in Maltese, but the ancient and rich culture of Latin will no longer be lost in the Maltese Islands.

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