Why Latin Is the Right Language for Roman Catholic Worship

The question of the language in which a Christian liturgy should be conducted is a more subtle and important question than most people realize at first glance. In this talk, given in Cleveland on June 4, 2022, Dr. Kwasniewski explains the many functions, registers, and capacities of language; describes the universal cultural-religious phenomenon of "sacral" or religiously-reserved languages; defines the characteristics of a sacred language; shows that having such an instrument for the liturgy is part of the unfolding of Divine Providence and has always been appreciated in the Catholic Church; argues that a "Latin Novus Ordo" falls between two stools -- having neither the immediate comprehensibility for which the new rite was designed or the dense grandeur of the ancient rite -- and therefore has no real future; shares some stories; and much more. An extensive Q&A period follows after the talk.