[Cf. Veterum Sapientia {English/Latin}]
The sacred Deposit of the Latin Language is a thing which even from the first centuries of the Church’s
existence, the Throne of Peter has always guarded as something holy. It considers Latin an overt and
beautiful sign of unity, a mighty instrument for safeguarding and spreading Christian Truth in its fullness,
and for the performing of sacred rites. Our most Holy Father and Lord Pope John XXIII has lifted it up
from neglect and contempt and firmly asserted its official, confirmed status within the Church. In a
solemn ceremony on February 22, he signed with his own hand the Apostolic Constitution “Veterum
Sapientia” [1] in the Basilica of St. Peter, laying the foundations and establishing the principles by which
this language, which is proper to the Church and forever bound into Her life, shall be restored to its
ancient place of glory and honor.
No one, least of all this Sacred Congregation, can be unaware what great and arduous effort this most
noble and necessary task will require, on account of the unfortunate state of learning and of use of the
Latin language today, and because of conditions existing in various places, times, and nations. The
Sacred Congregation has already discussed this matter in a letter to the Bishops given on October 27,
1957. [2]
Christian life and Christian faith teach us not to be overcome by our difficulties, but rather to overcome
them instead. Faith calls us to strive after that which is difficult but noble and needful. If a thing
requiring constant effort is put before us as something we must accomplish, as will be the enactment of
this decree, it will stimulate our efforts, so that we may bear the fruits which the Church rightfully
expects. She expects it from the earnest zeal of each member of the faithful, and most especially from
those who are bound by their priestly office to such endeavors. This is especially true in these very
difficult times in the life of the Church, when in the Second Vatican Council She labors with all Her being
to build and to strengthen the unity of the Christian people. “Now, especially, it is good to remember
the importance and the excellence of this language,” said the Pope in remarks he gave when he signed
his Apostolic Constitution,“ [3] since we have arrived at times when there is an obvious need for unity and
cooperation among peoples. But nevertheless, foolish initiatives threatening that union are anything
but rare.” The Latin language, as the Latin Church uses it, even today can very effectively foster reconciliation among peoples and resolve disagreements, especially among Her sacred ministers when
they come from different peoples. It can be very helpful to rising peoples who are trustfully taking their
place in the society of nations, since Latin is not beholden to the particular interests of any one
nationality, nor does it play favorites with any. Rather, it is available to all as a wellspring of clear and
dependable doctrine. It is easy for educated people to understand. It is an instrument of mutual
comprehension, and a most valuable tie that binds.
Church history clearly teaches that every difficulty has a remedy on hand, provided that everyone
recognizes that it is needed and people, especially the Church’s sacred ministers, have the obedience
and goodwill to make use of it. The history of the Latin language proves this abundantly. For Latin has
many times been laid low, crushed by the iniquity of the times, and then has flowered again, ever
renewed, because the Church has solicitously defended it and vigorously sustained it as Her universal,
venerable, and sacred inheritance.
Latin was able to re-establish itself time and time again, even from a greater state of neglect than it is in
our own time. After the barbarous age of the Merovingians, it rose to new heights in France under
Pepin and Charlemagne at the dawn of the ninth century. It rose even higher in the twelfth century and
became an extraordinary tool for philosophy and theology. It was reborn yet again in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries and was lifted to the utmost heights, where it seemed that the age of Cicero and
Augustus had been restored to us.
Latin can be reborn even now, if we give appropriate time and attention to learning it, and if it is not
overwhelmed and smothered by the host of other academic disciplines which have multiplied in the
public schools. It can be restored with teaching methods like those of former ages which give the ability
to speak and write in Latin. It can be restored if well-prepared teachers -- people distinguished for their
knowledge of Latin, expert in its use, and gifted as educators -- can be chosen for this work and called to
it even from faraway lands, as everyone knows has often happened before. It can be reborn if using
Latin is normal in private and in specialized schools, even in higher ecclesiastical institutions, and if the
custom of using this language is conscientiously preserved, as we here direct. It can be reborn if we
invest all due care, commitment, and zeal in the effort; if we apply the care we routinely invest in things
of the greatest importance. Finally and most critically, it can be restored if the highest good of the
Church is the objective, and if the firm and certain will of the popes is respected and carried out with
ready obedience and due loyalty.
The Sacred Congregation for Seminaries and Universities has been entrusted with this task. In ready
obedience to the mandate of the Apostolic Constitution “Veterum Sapientia,” we have with great care
prepared a curriculum for teaching and learning this language which is ordered toward achieving its
renewal fully and effectively.
The Sacred Congregation hereby conveys these Ordinances to seminaries, universities, and to
institutions of ecclesiastical studies, and orders that they be scrupulously implemented.
SECTION I
General Directives
ARTICLE I – On adapting existing curricula in use among the nations to the norms of these Ordinances [4]
§1. The varying curricula for Latin in use in Catholic schools worldwide are sometimes unequal
to the task of providing full knowledge and mastery of the language. They will, therefore, have to be
adapted to the standards established by these Ordinances, so that they can fully accomplish the goal
and offer no excuse for not achieving it. Public school curricula will have to be set aside in this area if
they cannot fully meet the educational requirements of future priests and provide the due formation in
Latin prescribed for all sacred ministers by the Apostolic Constitution and by these Ordinances.
§2. These Ordinances must be faithfully observed, and pre-existing school curricula worldwide
must be duly adapted to them. To this end, the bishops in any given country shall delegate this task to
local experts, who, adapting to the circumstances of the place, will nonetheless ensure that the
curriculum given here remains the same throughout that country. All of this shall be subject to
inspection by the Sacred Congregation and under its authority.
§3. Enacting this Apostolic Constitution and its Ordinances faithfully may give rise to some
problems, particularly in the early stages. Accordingly, this Sacred Congregation will appoint a council of
experts with whose help it will resolve such difficulties in light of the Constitution and the Ordinances. It
will clear up doubts, answer questions, give advice, and oversee the implementation of this project in all
other respects.
ARTICLE II – On teachers of Latin [5]
§1. Regarding teachers of Latin in lower and middle schools or in those schools commonly called
Classical or Humanities high schools, it is first and foremost an absolute requirement that the teachers
be suited to the task. They must be learned in the language, and naturally gifted as educators, since on
them unquestionably depends the greater part of the good results of this instruction. This applies
equally to major seminaries and postsecondary Ecclesiastical institutions, with a particular eye to
teachers of Patristics, Theology, and Diplomatics.
§2. The bishops and their representatives shall take care to identify promptly those clerics who
seem especially suited to this kind of work, and shall take up their thorough formation and preparation,
just as they do for instructors in the other academic disciplines.
§3. At all times, in the selection of teachers, no mere smattering but rather specialized
knowledge of the language and expertise in its use must be required. For this reason, before they begin
to teach, they must already have earned the Laurea in Classical Letters in a university and acquired
appropriate command of the Latin language and its literature. They must likewise be well trained in the
practical use of Latin in speaking. If teachers’ home countries do not offer the necessary academic
facilities, or if such facilities are substandard, they are to be sent to the best universities abroad.
§4. Given that most secular universities prioritize philological learning as their goal, and
de-emphasize the practical use of Latin, bishops shall take care to send young faculty members to one of
the institutions this Sacred Congregation has approved, or will in future establish. In particular, teachers
should be sent to the ACADEMIC INSTITUTE FOR LATIN which will be founded in Rome [6] in accordance
with the Apostolic Constitution “Veterum Sapientia,” so that they can develop not only a living facility
with this language in speaking and writing, but also a fuller knowledge of Christian and Medieval
Latinity. This applies also to those faculty who hold terminal degrees with distinction from public
universities, and to those that have yet to write their postdoctoral qualification exercise in textual
criticism. [7]
§5. Latin instructors are not to be dismissed from their posts without grave cause; rather, they
should enjoy security in their positions, so that by teaching they may perfect their skills and become
ever more excellent with the passage of time.
§6. Instructors are not to be burdened with excessive teaching loads; for this reason, they
should not be few in number, nor should they be distracted with other duties of any character
whatsoever.
§7. Instructors who are found to be ineffective for whatever reason, and especially those who
are hostile to this language, are to be removed immediately, lest corrosive indulgence or reprehensible
neglect compromise their young students’ first instruction, perhaps irreparably.
§8. Whenever only a very few expert teachers of Latin can be found in particular places, the
bishops should ask for personnel from other dioceses and from the religious orders, until the number of
instructors can be increased to meet the need. This mutual help among various dioceses, even among
various nations, and between the secular and regular clergy, will be very good for restoring Latin and for
strengthening the bond of charity.
ARTICLE III – Concerning examinations
§1. Tests demonstrate students’ knowledge of the language and their teachers’ performance
and expertise. They must be administered with the greatest diligence and consciousness of their
importance. There must be no laxity of any kind that would admit to secondary schools, to academic
degree programs, or to teaching positions, any persons who are ill-prepared or insufficiently tested. In
such a matter, easygoing compromise of any kind only harms the candidates themselves, who must
encounter even greater difficulties in the future. They will always limp and never run. It also harms the
Church Herself, since such people have only a limited understanding of Her language and a limited love
for it, or indeed they actively reject it.
§2. Examinations are to be given after every academic year, and repeated if they are not
passed, before any advancement can be granted to the next class higher. In these examinations (with
the exception of composition exams in the final years of study) it is always good to include translation
from Latin into the students’ mother tongue, and out of the mother tongue into Latin. Translations will
be literal in the first years, then progressively more elegant according to the character of each of the
two languages and the type of writing.
§3. An exam is likewise to be given on completion of studies at the secondary level. It must give
proof not only that the student has acquired due knowledge of the Latin language, but also that he has
attained sufficient facility in its use. This is necessary so that graduates may truly go prepared into their
more advanced subjects, and are able to understand and discuss them in Latin.
§4. As for those who seek admission either to major seminary or to other ecclesiastical
institutions of higher learning, but who have not studied the Classics in minor seminary or secular school
or in any parochial school where students are educated for secular careers rather than priesthood, they
should be examined with particular stringency, both in their knowledge of Latin and in their ability to
use it. This is so that they may be admitted in a state of no lesser preparation than others who did
complete Latin studies in minor seminary. If they do not have the necessary command of Latin
language, they must do remedial work in Classics for an appropriate period of time and complete it
properly.
§5. Administrators are to require a special examination for students who are admitted to
interdiocesan and regional major seminaries to study the higher subjects when such students come from
the outside. This examination is to be in the form of a conversation in Latin or an adequate essay
exercise. Those who are found to be insufficiently prepared are not to be admitted before they have
completed remedial work for an appropriate period of time.
§6. Special care and consideration must be given to teaching men who have been called to
priesthood later in life and who have little or no prior knowledge of Latin. It is extraordinary what
benefits these studies confer on the character and intellect of more mature individuals. The benefits are
so great that such men’s priestly education would be ragged and threadbare without them. The men themselves, lacking them, might cause their superiors worry by carrying on their studies in a light and
summary manner. Furthermore, as the Constitution plainly states, “No one is to be granted access to
philosophical or theological studies unless he is fully and thoroughly schooled in this language and
skilled in its use.” [8]
These students, therefore:
1. are to complete the entire curriculum here prescribed in schools created especially for them.
This they may do at a faster pace, but nevertheless not in any perfunctory or summary manner.
They are to omit no part of the curriculum on account of their age.
2. are to study Latin for a period of at least two years before they begin their introduction to
Scholastic philosophy.
3. are to take and pass an examination before they can be sent to a major seminary. The point of
this exam will be to test whether or not they have attained sufficiency in knowledge of Latin and
in practical use.
ARTICLE IV – Concerning pronunciation
We cast no aspersions on the “classical pronunciation,” which has in recent years been restored in many
secondary schools of high reputation. It is certainly a good thing to learn. Nevertheless, as St. Pius X [9] and Pius XI [10] have already urged, for the sake of uniformity the pronunciation which is called “Roman” is
to be retained in use. Roman pronunciation is “intimately connected with the cultivation of Gregorian
chant, because the manner of handling stress accents and pronouncing Latin which is contemporary to
chant has been extremely valuable for singing it correctly.” Roman pronunciation is likewise wholly
appropriate “for the ever-increasing consolidation of liturgical unity.” [11] Moreover, it has been in
uninterrupted use, both in the Church and in the schools of many nations, since roughly the fourth
century, with the result that it has become more or less international or common to all. Roman
pronunciation is, additionally, the pronunciation in which Church documents were read aloud at the
time they were written, and in which they ought to be read even now.
SECTION II
On a common curriculum for the study of Latin in high schools
ARTICLE I – Concerning the goal of these studies and the means of achieving it [12]
§1. No one is unaware of the special power of studying Latin language and literature for forming
young intellects. Through them, the most important gifts of the mind and character are exercised,
brought to their unfolding, and perfected. A student’s capacity for discriminating thought is sharpened,
as are his powers of judgment. His mind is rendered better able to apprehend and evaluate all things.
Thinking and speaking acquire a clearer order; propriety and elegance appear in the student’s choice
and use of words. His mind is effectively cultivated and ordered not only toward acquiring useful skills,
but also toward attaining higher culture and true humanity. The student can gain a wider and more
solid knowledge not only of the Romance languages but also of other languages of culture. These good
qualities of the mind in formation -- which are the only things the public educational system expects
Latin studies to deliver -- are yet not the same as those that are expected in the education of clerics.
Here, the primary goal is to form that particular kind of mind which is needed for the right exercise of
future ecclesiastical duties.
§2. Latin language studies in high schools for clerics have this principal goal: that aspirants to
Holy Orders should be able to go to the sources of Sacred Tradition and understand the documents of
the popes and the councils, and likewise the liturgy. Later on, the goal is to make them able to use this
language to learn their major academic disciplines, to write Church documents and letters, and to
correspond with their brother clergy of other nations. Finally, at the highest levels, the objective is to
make them able to take part in the sort of ecclesiastical debates on articles of Catholic faith and
discipline which occur in councils and meetings to which the Catholic clergy of the world are occasionally
called.
§3. In order that aspirants to Holy Orders may attain appropriate mastery and facility in the use
of this language, the curriculum ought to be shaped with attention to the amount of time necessary, the
quantity and nature of the authors to be treated, and the method to be used in teaching and in learning.
Article II – On the period of time to be allotted to this study [13]
§1. Because the time allotted to this study varies so widely in different times and places,
whether in terms of total years or class hours per week, ecclesiastical schools must provide whatever
time is necessary for the accomplishment of the goal, as these Ordinances have defined it. In particular,
the following is ordered:
1. This curriculum is to last at least seven years, for young people beginning their Latin
classes in seminaries. They are to have no fewer than six hours per week in the first five years,
and no fewer than five hours weekly in the remaining two.
2. Wherever the fine custom prevails of devoting eight or more years of study to Latin, it is
absolutely to be retained. At the same time, the authors to be studied shall be chosen either in
accordance with the established curriculum of the place, or according to the schema we have
laid out below (cf. Art. III, § 3). Let no one think this time will be fruitlessly invested. If young
people do not dig deep roots into these disciplines now, they will never draw nourishment from
the harder subjects which follow, nor will they receive in full the fruits of an ecclesiastical
education.
§2. For this reason, the other academic disciplines will have to be sequenced and abridged (and
some perhaps cut entirely or left for later), so that our mandate concerning the time to be given to Latin
language study may be obeyed in every respect.
§3. Students entering seminary or another Church school with one or more years of prior study
in the public schools are to be placed at the class level corresponding to their actual level of knowledge,
not simply according to the number of years of study.
§4. In countries where, for historical reasons, seminaries are also treated as colleges – places
where both seminarians and other students are educated with the same curriculum – the greatest care
must be taken that students who aspire to the priesthood meet all curricular requirements in full. It
must be guaranteed that everything mandated in these Ordinances concerning time investment in Latin
and the number of authors to be read, has been carried to completion and the objective has been
reached toward which this ecclesiastical education was ordered.
Article III – Authors to be studied [14]
§1. In selecting and treating authors, there must be a calculated progression from the easier to
the more difficult writers. Only those authors should be chosen whose Latin is very widely approved,
and whose works -- at least in the selections given to students -- include nothing which would offend the
ears or the minds of young people. Authors should be those whose elegant diction and subject matter
contribute to genuine formation of the mind and taste. A variety should be presented, so that students
gain an appropriately broad overview of the major literary works of the Romans and of Latin literature
as a whole. In quantity they should be enough that students acquire true mastery of the Latin language.
Finally, older texts are to be gradually juxtaposed with more recent works and with documents of the
church, so that students can learn a pure Latinity which is optimally suited to discussing new things and
events.
§2. Guided by these principles, we provide below a selection of authors and list them more or
less in the order which is common in the schools. Both the choice of authors and their sequence in the
curriculum may be slightly adapted for good cause (e.g. longstanding custom, integration with
public-school curricula, etc.), provided that the quantity established here, which is a minimum standard,
is in no way affected.
§3. The following authors should be read in the quantity prescribed in each given year:
Year I: first, whole sentences of elegant type, selected from the listed authors; some proverbs
and maxims which must be memorized; in the second part of the year, certain selections may be taken
from the Old and New Testament (viz. the Creation, the story of the seven Maccabee brothers, the
Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Parable of the Lost Sheep, etc.). At least 100 lines of poetry, of which
some must be memorized. A shorter fable of Phaedrus or a very short letter of Cicero could also be
included.
Year II: at least ten fables of Phaedrus; one of the Lives of Cornelius Nepos; approximately
twenty letters of Cicero; also some of the shorter Latin dialogues (from Erasmus, Vives, Jacobus
Pontanus, etc).
Year III: at least one whole book of Caesar, more letters of Cicero, three hundred verses of Ovid,
a certain number of hymns from the Roman Breviary, some chapters from the Catechism of Trent [15].
Year IV: three of Vergil’s Eclogues, five Elegies of Tibullus and Propertius, at least one book of
Livy, some letters of Cicero, and some chapters from the Catechism of Trent.
Year V: an oration of Cicero, thirty chapters of Sallust, one book of the Aeneid, and another of
the Georgics; some chapters from the Catechism of Trent.
Year VI: one of the philosophical works of Cicero (e.g. De Amicitia, De Senectute, or a selection
from the Tusculan Disputations); ten poems of Horace, five of Catullus, one book of the Annals or a
monograph of Tacitus, certain chapters from the Catechism of Trent.
Year VII: the Ars Poetica of Horace; a comedy of Plautus or Terence; selections (at least 300
lines) from Lucretius; a book of Cicero’s De Officiis or one rhetorical book of Cicero or Quintilian.
{Year VIII-IX: in addition to any works from the foregoing official plan which have not yet been
studied (an undertaking to which a longer period of time is advantageous), and any works which the curriculum proper to the place may require, selected letters of Pliny and Seneca should also be read.
Likewise, excerpts from Christian Latin authors and from the holy Fathers (Minucius, Lactantius,
Ambrose, Augustine, etc.), as well as selections from the documents of the Roman Pontiffs and from the
best modern Latin writers should be studied. }
§4. The Catechism of Trent, which popes and provincial councils have commended time and
time again, was used in schools up until the end of the last century as a treasury of Golden Latin and as
the pre-eminent textbook for learning Christian doctrine and discipline. Students are to have this book
always in their hands from their third year of Latin study onward. Through it, they will gradually learn to
blend Golden Latinity with the clear language which is characteristic of the documents and disciplines of
the Church.
§5. Even if the teacher routinely provides background about the life and work of a particular
author before the class comes to grips with the text itself, he still must teach the whole context of Latin
literature beginning in the fifth year. He must teach the major authors’ lives, works, topics, and
significance – historical, philosophical, or literary – and likewise discuss each one’s particular style, his
imitation of and borrowing from more ancient sources, etc. All of these things, moreover, are to be
presented in Latin, and the students, as they listen, are to have a textbook. If such a book is not
available in Latin, the instructor should dictate something or distribute written notes. Teachers are to
avoid overly-erudite digressions; rather, they are to limit themselves to presenting those facts which are
truly relevant to each author’s life, art, style, and importance, and conducive to the formation of the
student’s mind and taste.
ARTICLE IV – Concerning method in teaching and learning the Latin language [16]
§1. Studying Latin requires prior knowledge of the parts of speech, or what is commonly called
grammatical analysis or logic. Therefore, students are to be taught the rudiments – those things which
are absolutely necessary – over an appropriate period of time before they begin to study the language
itself.
§2. Latin language teaching method ought to cause students to acquire the ability to use it. For
this reason, the overflowing philological pot-au-feu which makes up nearly the entire menu in schools of
the Humanities, especially graduate schools, will have to be thrown out, since it does not give the
nourishment one would reasonably expect from such study. The old system of teaching must be
recovered. Its major elements we will recapitulate below (§§8-10).
§3. For seminarians, full knowledge of Latin and mastery in its use is the goal to be aimed at and
attained. Therefore, there must be instruction in grammar, not given in a perfunctory and light sort of
way, but fully and correctly. It must be gradual at first, in proportion to students’ ability to take it in, and
it must always be combined with comparison and reading of texts.
§4. The theoretical part of this instruction can be divided more or less in this manner: in the first
year, the pronunciation and the entire morphology of Latin is presented, even if in a summary way; in
the second year, there will be a general review of morphology, duly filled out with work on irregular
forms, as well as work on syntax focusing on noun-adjective agreement. In the third year, study of the
syntax of verb tenses and moods will be completed. In the fourth year, syntax will again be treated and
its study completed with attention to more complex constructions. In the fifth year, prosody and poetic
meters are to be taught in comprehensive overview, albeit in a summary way, while review of syntax is
also not to be neglected. In the sixth and seventh years, the elements of style will be conveyed in brief.
Grammar, syntax, and metrics (viz. Virgilian hexameter and the meters of Horace and those of the
Ambrosian hymns) are to be analyzed and discussed in the works of the great authors themselves, as
students read, comment, and translate them.
§5. Students are to memorize the basic elements of grammar, leaving fine details for later. The
teacher is to explain these things intelligibly and clearly, avoiding digressions about minutiae, but
frequently repeating the essentials. The teacher should concern himself with offering examples for his
students’ instruction, namely, those that lend themselves to teaching the use of the language, both in
speaking and in writing. He should not busy himself with indiscriminately collecting information, both
useful and useless, from many sources. Let him rather choose with the most careful attention materials
which are truly important and useful, so that his lectures may shine with the clear light of wisdom.
§6. Selecting grammar textbooks must be done with great care, to ensure that they are
consistent, clear, and comprehensive. They should not be packed with excessive amounts of scholarly
minutiae, nor should they be overly simplified or lightweight, since learning to use the language, in
writing and in speaking, urgently requires a thorough knowledge of its structure and nature. It will be
very beneficial to use a single textbook over the entire curriculum, so that students can get to know it
well, and, later, keep it always with them like a faithful companion whose advice they seek whenever a
question comes up.
§7. In accordance with the teaching method handed down to us from antiquity, the custom of
speaking Latin in lectures, tests, and classes shall be established. The near-universal abandonment of
this custom has resulted in no little damage in our own time, and yet, once again, it is rising ever higher
in esteem, and is rightfully being re-established, since it is remarkably consonant with the most recent
research in pedagogical science.
Any textbook used for teaching Latin syntax shall itself be written in Latin; alternatively, the
teacher himself may convey the essentials summarily in Latin, and ensure that students memorize and
recite them.
§8. Practice is to be given high priority; it can be carried on in a variety of ways in Latin classes,
but it is always to be done step-by-step, in a manner appropriate to the level of knowledge of each class
of students.
1) Students are to be drilled, first of all, in declining regular forms [of verbs and nouns],
and subsequently in the most high-frequency irregular forms. All these they are to memorize;
they are to keep on practicing, with the greatest possible diligence, all kinds of nouns and verbs
which are given to them to decline.
2) Another essential area of exercise is memory. Students must memorize not only the
basic elements of grammar relating to individual words, but also recite them so that they may
retain them clearly and solidly, as if these facts were the formulae of some practical art. They
should also handle select maxims and sayings in this way, as well as very carefully chosen
excerpts from the poets and orators.
3) Students are likewise to be put through their paces with quizzes on the elements of
grammar, on the content of the authors, and on the meanings of words. In the earliest lessons,
this will be done in the vernacular language, and then in Latin – first, on the meanings of those
vocabulary words that have been specifically assigned and discussed, using more or less the
same words, and later the students’ own.
4) There must be very abundant practice in speaking – but speaking well and elegantly.
This should happen in an environment where the students, if they make a mistake, may be
immediately corrected by their teacher. The instructor will also supply well-chosen vocabulary
words for everyday objects.
5) Writing practice, which is the principle means of gaining full knowledge and use of the
language, ought sometimes to be given unannounced in class, and at other times as homework.
At the higher levels of schooling, these exercises should be given at least twice weekly,
alternating between prose and poetry. The theme for the exercise may be either something
already discussed in class or something just announced. Verse composition is a laborious
process which bears proportionate fruit, albeit not for the adornment of poetry itself, but
certainly for the growth of knowledge of the language and of Latin metrics. The teacher, then,
should first give his students some verses with their individual words taken out of order, so that
the students must put them back together. Later on, students will compose their own verses by
their own lights, using a meter that they know well.
6) Translation from the mother tongue into Latin and from Latin into the mother tongue
should never be marginalized. If it is done with due regard for idiom and in harmony with the
manner of speaking proper to each language, it will do much to foster acquiring fuller
knowledge of each of two languages and revealing each one’s true nature. This exercise
promotes genuine broadening of students’ minds.
7) Analyzing authors is a task to be carried out by the instructor while the students
listen, in the manner of a professor’s lecture.
§9. Lecturing, in which a teacher’s erudition, expertise, industry and effectiveness are most clearly on
display, is the principle means by which the desired goal of his instruction can be achieved. In
introductory classes, lecturing should be simple and done in the mother tongue only; later, Latin
elements should be sown into the mother-tongue narrative. From the fourth year onward, lecturing is
to be done in Latin only, and in a full, elegant Latin at that.
In this manner the teacher should first highlight the subject matter of the book, oration or
excerpt which a particular class is to analyze or summarize. He should follow that with an explanation.
In the grammar schools, this will make plain the word order and structure of the author’s diction, and
throw light on the more arcane vocabulary. In the higher-level schools, the teacher will do this same
thing in Latin, but in a more elegant and content-rich manner. Then should come grammar; in the lower
schools, this entails analyzing individual words: each one’s gender, declension, conjugation, mood,
tense, etc. In the upper schools, the focus will be on rhetoric, entailing observation of the things that
make up the eloquence, the artistic quality, the grammar, syntax, and structure of the particular work
under discussion, whether the author is an orator or poet. Thereafter, the focus should be on erudition.
In the lower schools, this will take the form of a fuller exposition of elements (e.g. similes, descriptive
passages) which are created by the author’s word choices, or by stories he includes, etc. In the upper
schools, things will proceed in the same way, but in a fuller manner and with more content from history,
mythology, poetry, etc. Finally, there should come the consideration of Latinity. In the lower schools,
this will teach young students how word order is manipulated, with some elements being put before
others, and why some words are preferred to others, etc. In the upper schools, this consideration will
include examining an author’s favorite metaphors, the effects and meaning of words and how that
meaning is colored by variations in word order and organization. It will also include uncovering the
properties of either language [i.e. Latin and the mother tongue] by expressing the same thing in them;
and at last, it will include all other things pertaining to eloquence, poetic art, and the type of writing in
question.
§10. Pupils ought to begin translating authors in their daily homework exercises. A teacher does
well to set his students in-class translation exercises at first, and go over their work at whiles in his
office, so that he can keep abreast of each student’s progress. Later on, the teacher will also himself
translate in class, explaining the words, the type of discourse, the more difficult constructions, the
historical and geographical context in various ways. He will do this either in Latin or in the students’
native language, but always choosing his words carefully and using appropriate idiom, so that the true
complexion of either language may be clearly discernible. It is helpful also to read from the poets and
orators by turns in class, so that students do not get bored for lack of variety.
SECTION III
On the study and use of the Latin language in Major Seminaries
Article I – On Latin study
§1. Major seminary students ought not to put down the study of Latin altogether, but rather,
continue to progress and perfect their knowledge. They should pay special attention to works which
illustrate the Latinity of the source texts of Sacred Tradition, of Church diplomatics, and of the academic
disciplines on which they are concentrating.
§2. Seminarians are not only to cultivate this language by private reading of Classical and
Christian authors, but they are to practice assiduously in various ways so that Latin may become, so to
speak, their own vernacular, like their mother or native tongue. This used to be commonplace, and
happens even now in the study of modern languages, which are learned through conversation rather
than through the presentation of rules. For this, we recommend Latin conversation on certain days at
recreation and with professors in private tutorials. Latin composition should also not be neglected. Its
fruits can be recited or exhibited in conferences open to the public, especially on the most solemn feast
days.
§3. To make sure that students concentrating on the major disciplines of study [e.g. Theology,
Philosophy] continue to pursue the study of Latin, and so that they may get a gradual introduction to the
technical Latin of the source texts, we order the following:
1. A special course on this particular kind of Latin is to be given to all students, in
Latin, by an expert professor. This course will meet at least one hour per week throughout the
entire Theology curriculum.
2. In this course, the principal documents and source texts of the various
academic disciplines – those of the Fathers and the Theologians, the Popes and the Councils,
and the texts of the Liturgy – are to be read and discussed. All texts will be chosen by consensus
of all the instructors.
3. No one may be exempted from the obligation of taking this course. On
completion, all students will take an examination; those who do not pass are to repeat it. As a
result, when students have grasped the particular nature of each kind of Latinity, they will not
only possess a solid foundation for the exegesis of doctrine, but they will gain a direct and
expanded familiarity with the source texts and be able to interpret them truthfully. Unless
students are made capable of this, there can be no dependable and genuine ecclesiastical
education. And with it comes a most valuable complement to the study of the Scholastics.
Article II – On the use of Latin [17]
§1. In teaching the major academic disciplines of the Church, the use of the Latin language is to
be immediately and fully instituted everywhere, notwithstanding any difficulties that may present themselves. No bishop or institutional superior may permit otherwise by making exceptions after his
own judgment.
§2. The academic disciplines to be taught in Latin are: Theoretical Philosophy; General,
Dogmatic and Moral Theology; General and Specialized Introduction to Sacred Scripture, and Canon
Law. Those disciplines pertaining strictly to pastoral practice, to Catechetics, and to Homiletics may be
exempted, as may History of Philosophy, Church History, and the other disciplines.
§3. Notwithstanding any local custom to the contrary, we order:
(1) that books for school use
and textbooks for the disciplines which are to be taught in Latin, as well as professors’ own
student handouts reinforcing key points of content, are always to be written in Latin;
(2) every student is
to have in his possession not only a textbook written in Latin for each of his subjects which is taught in
Latin, but also all of Holy Scripture in the Vulgate edition, the Code of Canon Law, and various Latin
handbooks of Church documents;
(3) a list of the books used in classes is to be submitted to the Sacred
Congregation for Studies, in accordance with this published decree. [18]
§4. Students, additionally, are to develop the mental habit of mulling over, weighing, rereading
and retaining, in Latin, those things which they have read or heard in Latin. They are to accustom
themselves to understanding well and committing to memory the vocabulary and the idioms proper to
each of their academic subjects, so that subsequently they may ever more freely and elegantly speak in
their classes and in their examinations.
§5. Examinations, whether written or oral, are to be conducted in Latin for those disciplines
which are taught in Latin. The same is to be observed in public presentations and in review sessions.
§6. The professors by whom the major ecclesiastical academic disciplines are to be taught in
Latin must
1. Prepare everything carefully in Latin; the Latin must be clear and correct, as the dignity
of these disciplines requires. They are not to rely on extempore speaking as a form of
discourse.
2. Be selected for this task with an eye not merely to their expertise in their own discipline,
even if it be unique; it must also be ascertained that they possess the requisite
knowledge of Latin and ability to use it. [19]
3. Be informed of this requirement in a timely way so that they may prepare themselves to
meet it; appropriate support shall be provided to them so that they may prepare.
4. Be removed from their positions if they neglect and hold in contempt the requirement
given here for using Latin in their teaching, lest by their instruction and example they
harm their students. [20]
§7. Superiors of major seminaries are to implement carefully those things ordered below for the
appropriate composition of the library, especially with regard to Latin and Greek. (Cap. IV, Art. II, §14).
SECTION IV
On the study and use of Latin in Ecclesiastical Universities and Institutes
Article I – On the study of the Latin language
§1. The work of higher education [in Latin] is chiefly “to give [students] familiarity with the
source texts and prepare them for research and scholarship and for the exercise of the Magisterium.” [21] It is therefore obvious that students at this level must be equipped with specialized knowledge of Latin
and given practice in its use, since it is the indispensable key to the knowledge of sacred things.
§2. No one, consequently, may enroll in a university or other institution to pursue an academic
degree unless he has first properly completed the secondary Classical Studies curriculum. [22] This must be
clearly demonstrated with valid documentation; the University or Institution still retains the right to
impose an examination whenever the documents presented are deemed to be inadequate. False
leniency or entertainment of human excuses here cannot be anything but gravely injurious, both to
scholarship itself and to the proper education of students. [23]
§3. Universities and academic institutes of the Church must prioritize knowledge of source
texts, in accordance with Art. 2 of the Apostolic Constitution Deus Scientiarum Dominus [“God, the Lord
of the Sciences”]. To ensure that students’ first encounters with source texts may be wide-ranging and
fruitful, to ensure that they understand these texts clearly and dependably, and in order that they may
benefit from exacting philological exegesis of these sources, since that is the indispensable foundation of
all further exegesis, we order the following:
1. In every Department of Philosophy and in departments and institutes of higher sacred
studies, a special course is to be created which will give students thorough grounding in the
language particular to the texts under study, whether Greek or Latin.
2. This course shall meet a minimum of one hour per week, for at least one semester in a
two-year course of study.
3. This course is to be considered an auxiliary course, after the sense of the Apostolic
Constitution Deus Scientiarum Dominus (Art. 33, §1,3; Art. 34). For this reason, no one is
exempt from taking this course; on completion, all students are to take an examination; those
who do not pass are to repeat the course.
§4. Other specialized exercises in the doctrinal interpretation of selected texts may be added to
the course,
24 as long as (according to the above order §3, #2) the number of exercises is increased in
such a way that students may carry out separate philological and doctrinal analyses, either under the
direction of the same professor (if he has sufficient expertise in both areas) or by different professors.
§5. In this course, after the teacher has expounded on essential grammar and vocabulary of the
Latinity of the documents under study, he should explain selected passages in detail from a philological
and semantic point of view. These should be passages whose language and content may be helpful in
illuminating the major disciplines. For example, in Philosophy, students could be given certain passages
from the greatest ancient philosophers and also, most especially, from St. Thomas. In Theology,
passages should be chosen by consensus among the teachers, to complement the theological treatises
which will be read; these will be from the Fathers of the Church: especially, from the theologians and
Doctors of the Church, from the Councils, from Papal documents, from the dogmatic books of Holy
Scripture, from Liturgy, etc. In Canon and Roman Law, students are to be made familiar with the lexicon
and the type of writing proper to these disciplines, by calling their attention to special meanings of key
terms, and by giving them selected excerpts from ancient and more recent authors.
Article II – On the use of Latin
§1. The use of the Latin language in universities and academic institutions is to be restored in its
entirety, and every obstacle thereto is to be overcome. To no man is given power to lift this obligation
according to his own judgement.
§2. The subjects to be taught in Latin are: Theoretical Philosophy, all of Theology, Sacred
Scripture, Canon and Roman Law.
25
§3. The remaining subjects may be taught in the vernacular, unless laudable custom or
necessity indicates otherwise, since, obviously, students from different nations may speak different
languages.
§4. Public presentations and review sessions are to be conducted in Latin.
§5. With regard to examinations, the following are ordered:
1. Whether oral or written, examinations for subjects taught in Latin are to be
given in Latin.
2. With particular emphasis the following are to be conducted in Latin: qualifying
examinations for any academic degree in the above-mentioned subjects; lectures; the
thesis defense.
3. In examinations which are conducted in Latin, a judgment of the quality of the
Latin is to be made, and not lightly, but rather with due severity, so that it may in truth reflect not only the examinands’ level of knowledge of the subject, but also the fluency
and accuracy with which they use this language. Those who are found to be
insufficiently instructed or learned in this area are not to be promoted.
§6. The written exercise required for the Licentiate in the above-listed (§2) subjects must be
written in Latin, in accordance with the statute in Article 37 of the “Ordinationes” attached to the
Apostolic Constitution Deus Scientiarum Dominus.
§7. We enjoin with great urgency that the doctoral dissertation in the disciplines referenced in
the same statute (see §2) be written in Latin. If the existing statutes of the Universities or Institutes now
prescribe, or shall in future prescribe the use of Latin for the writing of dissertations, this practice is to
be faithfully maintained.
§8. When a dissertation is written in one or another of the vernacular languages permitted by
the statutes of the respective University or Institute, an appropriate summary written in Latin is to be
submitted in advance.
§9. Concerning faculty members, the same standards apply which have already been given for
faculty members in Major Seminaries (see Section III, Article II, §6). This is with regard to their timely
selection and their preparation in the use of the Latin language, and also with regard to their removal if
they are incompetent or reluctant in this area.
§10. The academic authorities of the Church’s universities and institutes, when they submit to
the Holy See the names of faculty who will teach one or another subject in Latin, must warrant that they
possess the knowledge and practical facility in Latin which is necessary, in addition to the other
qualifications prescribed by the Apostolic Constitution Deus Scientiarum Dominus (Title II, Article 21).
§11. Following on what has been said in the Apostolic Constitution concerning the importance
of Latin for the Catholic Church, whose own language Latin is, and is quite rightly is called so, it is highly
desirable that people who write scholarly articles for a clerical readership in periodicals devoted to the
Sacred Disciplines should do so in Latin, which is to say in the language proper to those disciplines. It
will thus be possible to avoid the danger inherent in the individual writer’s judgement, which is that of
introducing unsanctioned variations in words’ meanings, and, through them, introducing inconsistencies
and ambiguities and even perversions into Church teaching. The use of Latin will also bring it about that
more priests of every nation and language may be able to read and understand them. If this cannot be
done, at least an appropriate summary in Latin ought to be added to each article.
§12. Likewise we urgently enjoin the use of the Latin language to produce critical editions of the
documents of the earliest centuries of Christianity and of the Middle Ages, and for translations of the
writers of the Eastern Churches. This is not only consonant with the nature of such documents, but also
extremely beneficial for advancing the universality of doctrine and promoting the acquisition of
knowledge.
§13. We must say the same for the use of Latin in congresses of ecclesiastics, who are
summoned together out of diverse peoples and languages to consider questions of Sacred Discipline,
doctrine, or the exercise of the pastoral office. A language common to all confers an enormous advantage for promoting mutual understanding and for easier and readier communication. These are
things which the confluence of a great multitude of languages obstructs. It even brings it about that the
sacred ministers of the Universal Church, being caught, and, day by day, ever more straitly trammeled
within the borders of their own nations, end up virtually ignorant, or even stop trying to learn, what
their brother priests do to exercise the selfsame ministry in other parts of the world.
§14. Those who govern seminaries, academic institutes, and ecclesiastical schools should
likewise take care that their libraries are thoughtfully equipped and enriched with everything pertaining
to the Latin and Greek languages, lest professors in particular lack the tools necessary for perfecting
their own knowledge and writing scholarly works. If an appropriate array of books is absent, there will
be no impetus to research and to write, no eager investigation and progress, but only mental inertia and
self-satisfied ignorance.
SECTION V
On the study of Greek [26]
§1. Even if the Apostolic Constitution is concerned primarily with the re-establishment of the
study and use of the Latin language, it in no way neglects to give clear and precise direction concerning
the study of Greek. For Greek ought to be learned with the greatest care. It is most helpful in forming
young people’s minds; it is linked to Latin by a special bond which makes it a prerequisite to a full and
true knowledge of Latin, and it has been enshrined in virtually every secular Classical curriculum.
Likewise Greek is absolutely necessary for all who essay the primary academic disciplines in seminary,
and especially for those who enter ecclesiastical universities or institutes desiring academic degrees, [27] and for any man of the Church who must use ancient source texts, both sacred and profane, to exercise
the office of teaching Philosophy or the Sacred Sciences.
§2. For this reason, therefore, we order:
1. In those nations whose public schools are ordered principally toward scientific
education and Greek is not taught, Greek should be taught in the Seminaries and in other
ecclesiastical schools, so that their graduates will not be inadequately prepared for admission to
study the higher-level disciplines.
2. The necessary time, reckoned both in years and in hours per week, is to be invested
in the learning of this language for attaining the mastery prescribed, according to prevailing
conditions of place and local circumstances.
3. With regard to the reading of authors both sacred and profane, and to the learning of
Greek grammar, the same minimum standard is to be maintained, proportionally, which is
ordered for Latin in Section II of these Ordinances (Article III, §§ 1-3; Article IV, §§ 2-6).
4. Every professor of Greek is to be truly expert in the subject and should hold the
doctorate in Greek literature.
5. The manner of teaching and analyzing Greek Authors ought to be ordered toward
acquiring the necessary practical knowledge of the language, in accordance with the precepts of
these Ordinances (Section II, Article IV). For this reason, special care must be taken to make
plain the origins of words and clearly show word families and words that are derived from them
in the modern languages and the arts. When the student thus has a grasp of roots and their
significance, it may be possible for him to understand a great many words, and he may acquire
an accurate and useful tool to use in higher studies.
§3. A Commission of experts must be constituted to adapt the curriculum in each national
setting to reflect the pontifical Constitution and these Ordinances. [28] The Commission is to define the
curriculum in this area [i.e. Greek] as well, which will then be subject to approval by this Sacred
Congregation for Studies.
§4. With regard to Hellenistic/Biblical Greek, it is ordered:
1) in seminaries, a special course
consisting of one class hour per week over the course of an academic year is to be given within the
Theology cycle; the course must conclude with an exam;
2) in departments of Theology the statute
counting Biblical Greek as an ancillary discipline, given in the Ordinances for the Apostolic Constitution
Deus Scientiarum Dominus, is to be conscientiously observed in all its parts.
SECTION VI
Concerning Visitators
§1. A Board of Visitators is to be established. [29] Their duty will be, at certain times, to inspect
and determine whether or not all and sundry Ordinances are being obeyed with due and timely
diligence for the conscientious implementation of this Apostolic Constitution, and with the results which
are rightly to be expected.
§2. According to a Visitation protocol constituted for that purpose, Visitators will especially
inquire about the following: the number of instructors, their preparation and due diligence; curricula,
and to what extent the experts chosen to prepare said curricula have done so in accordance with these
Ordinances. They shall inquire into all things pertaining to the necessary time apportioned for these
studies, to analysis of Authors, teaching method, student exercises, and student morale.
§3. Visitators have authority to attend class sessions, interview students, and review homework
assignments. They may give students a theme for a written composition or for a speech. They may, in
sum, investigate all things by which they may come to an understanding of the true and full
effectiveness of the program under review.
§4. Visitators are not to neglect major seminaries and ecclesiastical academic institutions. Here,
they are to assess whether or not their students come to them from the lower schools properly
prepared in the knowledge and use of Latin. They are to inquire whether or not the use of Latin is
observed in the teaching of subjects where it has been mandated, and whether or not the textbooks and
handbooks of Church documents are written in Latin and in the possession of every student. They are to
find out whether or not a course in Christian Latin has been established, and with how fruitful a result it
proceeds; likewise whether or not examinations are conducted in Latin, and if the students are taught to
use and cultivate Latin in some other manner.
§5. Once the Visitation has been completed, Visitators are to report to this Sacred Congregation
the true state of Latin [in a given school] and are to suggest remedial action as appropriate. They are
also to point out whatever things they find which are laudable and worthy of emulation.
§6. Visitators are to refer to Appendix One, attached to these Ordinances, for further
information on each area of inquiry for the proper execution of their mandate.
SECTION VII
On reporting to the Sacred Congregation for Seminaries and Universities
§1. A report on the means and progress in restoring Latin is to be sent:
1) Every year for the first five years (unless, given conditions prevailing in particular
places, the Sacred Congregation shall have required reporting over a longer period of time),
so that it may be made plain if these Ordinances have been fully implemented, or if some
foot-dragging still remains, and so that the last impediments can be definitively removed.
2) Thereafter, reporting will be quinquennial; the report will be submitted together
with the general report on the state of seminaries.
3) Ecclesiastical universities and academic institutes, after the first five-year
period, shall continue to report every three years.
§2. This report is to be prepared by the Academic Dean, but signed by the Ordinary of the place;
in universities and academic institutes it is to be prepared and signed by the Rector or President.
§3. The report to be sent will have the following characteristics:
1) For minor seminaries and other schools where future priests pursue the essential
mid-level Classical Studies curriculum, the report will concern itself primarily with the
amount of time allotted to this study, the number of teachers and their level of expertise,
the method and teaching and learning, evaluation, and, finally, with all things are
mandated for them in these Ordinances.
2) For major seminaries, universities, and institutes of ecclesiastical studies, the
report will concern itself with the special course on the Latinity of essential source texts
(how it is carried out and with what instructors), with the use of Latin in teaching
academic subjects (showing which are taught in Latin and which in vernacular tongues),
with the preparation and expertise in Latin of the students and the instructors, with
various initiatives for increasing and extending students’ interest in Latin, with the
textbooks used in schools, and with all other things according to these Ordinances.
SECTION VIII
Time-specific Regulations
§1. The instructions given in these Ordinances pursuant to the mandate of the Pope shall come
into full effect from the first day of the 1963-64 academic year – or 1964, according to the reckoning of
each hemisphere. [30]
§2. In regions where knowledge and use of Latin have grown cold to such an extent that
students in the major academic subjects cannot understand Latin-speaking professors, or be brought
quickly to that level of competence, and are unable to get into the habit of speaking Latin for
themselves, care must absolutely be exercised so that instruction in these disciplines suffers no
detriment, and to ensure the following:
1 Textbooks written in Latin are to be used in the interim for these subjects. Professors are to
make every effort, by increments, first to deliver some of their lectures in Latin, and then to discuss part
of a book, in a way that enables students to acquire gradually an adequate comprehension of the
language.
2. Administrators are to take special and conscientious care to promote the study of this
language in the upper schools in a variety of ways. They are to designate certain times in the day, every
day, when, under a teacher’s supervision, students engage in intensive exercises so that they may as
quickly as possible understand lessons [given in Latin] with benefit.
3. A special propaedeutic year is to be instituted – a highly appropriate and efficacious idea –
during which alumni of humanities-based schools who are still insufficiently prepared may be
appropriately formed, made familiar with and able to use this language, before proceeding to the higher
disciplines.
§3. Ordinaries everywhere, before granting to major seminary faculty the task of teaching any
of the subjects which are to be taught in Latin (cf. Section III, Article II, §2), are to submit their names to
the Sacred Congregation for Seminaries and Universities – until such time as another screening system
may be set up – and they are to attest whether or not the candidates possess expertise in the use of the
language, in addition to the other requisite attributes.
Our most holy Lord John, by Divine Providence the Twenty-Third Pope of that name, has approved,
confirmed and commanded publication of these Ordinances, all things contrary notwithstanding.
Given at Rome, from the seat of this Sacred Congregation, this twentieth day of April, in Eastertide, in
the year nineteen-hundred and sixty-two.
JOSEPH CARDINAL PIZZARDO, Prefect
L.(c)s. FR. DINO STAFFA, Secretary
APPENDIX I
Outline of the Report to be sent to the Sacred Congregation for Seminaries and Universities [31]
I. ON THE STUDY OF LATIN IN LOWER AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS
1. How many years are allotted for the study of Latin language? How many hours each week and
in each year? Are they enough to handle the entire course of grammar and Authors in an
appropriate manner? Which authors are treated each year? Are they the same as those named
in these Ordinances, or are they others? Are they presented in the same sequence? Do all
students, individually, have their own textbooks?
2. Has it been necessary to adapt a pre-existing Latin curriculum so that the requirements of these
Ordinances could be met? How was it adapted?
3. In the case of a College Seminary, what provision is made for beginners aspiring to priesthood to
supply what is lacking in the public-school curriculum?
4. Is the existing curriculum recognized by the local civil authorities?
5. If it is not so recognized, do the students of the seminary or school take state exams, so that
they can earn state diplomas? Do all students take these exams, or only the most proficient?
6. How many faculty members are assigned to teaching Latin? How many teaching hours are given
to each and at which levels? Do instructors have other duties at home or elsewhere which could
distract them from their assigned duties?
7. Are all faculty members in possession of the doctorate in classical letters? If not, what graduate
schools have they attended? Or in what other ways have they received their professional
training?
8. What is done to prepare promising individuals?
9. Do [faculty] have the habit of using Latin in speaking and in writing – especially those who teach
in the upper schools?
10. What are the results of their teaching? Are they endowed with the necessary pedagogical
talents? Are they frequently shuffled around, or do they have stability in their positions (this
especially for those who teach in upper schools)?
11. Are examinations given at the end of each year, even if they are not state exams?
12. If state examinations are given, are private examinations also administered in the seminary, so
that all students can be evaluated, to determine whether or not each has made due progress in
each year, and whether or not each possesses the preparation proper to a student, as described
in these Ordinances?
13. How are examinations administered? Do they feature translation from each of two languages?
Do they include composition, at the higher levels?
14. Is there an assessment of the true state of students’ knowledge and ability to use the Latin
language for those who are moving up into the higher disciplines?
15. Are older students present -- men who have entered seminary in more mature years? How are
they distributed among the classes? Does their presence slow down the others? Do they have
classes of their own? By what means are they taught the skills they need before they are
admitted to Major Seminary? How is the whole of the Latin curriculum provided for these [late]
vocations? How many years are allotted? Is the same level of knowledge and practical mastery
required of them before they progress to higher studies? How do they study Greek?
16. What teaching methodology is in use? Is it, as the Ordinances prescribe, ordered not only
toward erudition but also, especially, toward genuine knowledge of the Latin language and
practical ability in its use? Do the teachers try, especially in the upper schools, to fulfil the plan
laid out in the Ordinances?
17. What use of spoken Latin is made in classes? What practice is given in writing Latin? Are there
frequent review sessions and quizzes?
18. What textbooks of Latin grammar are in use? What division of the grammar is made for each of
the several years? Are the theoretical and reading portions assigned in the Ordinances for each
year actually completed? Is an adequate grounding provided in Latin literature?
19. What particular issues exist in this seminary? What problems exist among the teachers and the
students, or in the teaching method, the time, the slate of authors, the number of school
subjects, etc?
II. ON THE STUDY AND USE OF LATIN IN MAJOR SEMINARIES
1. Is our firm directive to use Latin in class respected in the major academic disciplines? Was this
approach already in place? Or has it been very recently introduced? Are instructors and
students aware of the Church’s firm purpose concerning the use of Latin for teaching in these
areas?
2. Are the professors able to teach in Latin? If all of them, or a few, are unable, what measures
have been taken to address the matter? Are individuals present who oppose it?
3. Do all students individually have textbooks written in Latin and handbooks likewise written in
Latin? Do they have in their possession the entire Vulgate edition of Sacred Scripture? Are they
well enough prepared that they can understand someone teaching in Latin? Or do they have an
aversion to Latin?
4. What is being done in the major seminary for the pursuit and fulfillment of the Latin curriculum?
Are special conferences or classes or exercises provided toward this goal?
5. With regard to the special course in Christian Latinity, have all things been put into practice
which were prescribed in Section III of the Ordinances concerning time, instructors, and the
manner of conducting the course?
6. Are tests given in Latin? And are they conducted with due stringency?
7. Do students come out of minor seminary adequately prepared in knowledge and ability to use
this language? Are older students admitted without due conversance with these humanistic
studies?
III. ON THE STUDY OF GREEK
1. How many years are allotted to the study of Greek? How many hours? Is the complete
grammar taught? Which authors are read each year? In what amounts? Is an adequate
grounding in Greek literature provided? Are the students moving up to the higher academic
disciplines adequately prepared in this subject?
2. Is a special class in Biblical Greek provided within the Theology curriculum?
3. Do the professors hold the requisite doctorate in Classical Letters?
The report is to address each individual point, and in no perfunctory way, but with due conscientiousness,
so that remedial actions, if they should be necessary, may be taken in a timely and effective way.
APPENDIX II
Principal works of the Church Fathers from which suitable passages may be taken for the course in
Christian Latinity [32] The objective of this special course is not merely to illuminate short passages and maxims of the
Church Fathers, by which theological topics are presented, but also to bring students to understanding
and familiarity with Christian Latin.
In addition to short selected passages from the readers, whose full significance the professor of
Theology will unpack, it is opportune that the professor of Christian Latin should clearly and distinctly
read out longer passages as well, after summarizing their meaning briefly. This professor will make plain
the appropriate sense of any word or expression, elucidating the more obscure forms and constructions,
and briefly give the characteristics of each author’s writing style.
In this way, students will be encouraged to love the Fathers, to go to them and read them
frequently. They will come to understand them and savor them for themselves. They will not only
complete their studies, but from them drink deep the love of the truth and reasons to defend the
Catholic Faith against novelties and corruptions of every kind. They will learn with what zeal, what
understanding, what knowledge and wisdom the way must be opened for the advancement of religion
in Christ’s Church, “so that there may truly be progress in faith, not permutation.” This is to say, “so that
the teaching of Religion may be made firmer through the years, expanded in time, and refined with age,
and yet remain incorrupt and untouched, so that in every measure of its parts, as if in all its members
and in the senses belonging to it, it may be full and it may be perfect, for it admits of no distortion and
no abridgement of its characteristics, and it suffers no variation in its meaning.” [33] Certain works of the great writers and Fathers of the Church are listed here, from which suitable
excerpts may be taken for analysis and reading; the teacher of Christian Latin, however, is not forbidden
to choose other texts as may seem advantageous.
I. Fundamental Theology
ATHENAGORAS, Supplicatio pro Christianis
ST. JUSTIN MARTYR, Apologiae
EPISTLE TO DIOGNETUS (especially chps. 5-6)
TERTULLIAN, Apologeticus; De praescriptione haereticorum; De Idololatria
ST. CYPRIAN, De catholicae Ecclesiae unitate (especially chp. IV); Epistles (especially Ad Cornelium
papam)
LACTANTIUS, Divinae Institutiones
ST. AUGUSTINE, De Doctrina Christiana (Books II-III; De exegesi biblica); De vera religione; De utilitate
credendi; De consensu Evangelistarum; De symbolo ad catechumenos.
ST. LEO THE GREAT, Epistolae
VINCENT OF LÉRINS, Commonitorium
II. Dogmatic Theology
1. On the One and Triune God
MINUCIUS FELIX, Octavius, chp. 14-38, Adversus Praxean.
NOVATIAN, De Trinitate.
ST. HILARY OF POITIERS, De Trinitate (especially books II-III).
ST. BASIL, Tractatus de Spiritu Sancto.
ST. AMBROSE, De fide, Ad Gratianum, De Spiritu Sancto.
ST. AUGUSTINE, De Trinitate (especially Book V).
ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN, Sermones.
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, De Incomprehensibilitate Dei.
ST. GREGORY OF NYSSA, De Trinitate, ad Eustathium (discussion of the divinity of the Holy Spirit).
2. On God Who creates and elevates
ST. GREGORY OF NYSSA, Liber de hominis opificio.
ST. AMBROSE, Hexameron; De Paradiso.
ST. JEROME, Dialogus adversus Pelagianos.
ST. AUGUSTINE, De Genesi contra Manichaeos; De Genesi ad litteram; De gratia Christi et de peccato
originali.
3. On the Incarnate Word
ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, Epistles, ad Ephesios; ad Smyrnaeos.
TERTULLIAN, De carne Christi.
ST. AMBROSE, De Incarnationis Dominicae Sacramento.
ST. ATHANASIUS, De Incarnatione Verbi.
ST. GREGORY OF NYSSA, Oratio magna catechetica (chp. 10-32).
ST. AUGUSTINE, Contra sermonem Arianorum; In Ioannis Evangelium tractatus.
CASSIAN, De Incarnatione Christi contra Nestorium.
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT, Homeliae in Evangelia.
ST. JEROME, Adversus Helvidium de perpetua virginitate B. Mariae.
ST. JEROME, Epistolae.
ST. LEO THE GREAT, Sermones.
4. On Grace and the Virtues
ST. JEROME, Epistolae.
ST. AUGUSTINE, De libero arbitrio; De fide rerum quae non videntur; De natura et gratia; De gratia Christi
et de peccato originali. De gratia et libero arbitrio; De dono perseverantiae; Enchiridion ad Laurentium
sive de fide, spe et caritate.
ST. PROSPER OF AQUITAINE, De gratia Dei et libero arbitrio liber contra Collatorem.
ST. FULGENTIUS, De fide ad Petrum liber.
5. On the Sacraments
TERTULLIAN, De Baptismo; De Paenitentia.
ST. CYPRIAN, De lapsis.
ST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, Catecheses.
ST. AMBROSE, De paenitentia; De Sacramentis; De Mysteriis.
ST. AUGUSTINE, De Baptismo.
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, Catecheses ad illuminandos; De Sacerdotio.
6. On the End Times
TERTULLIAN, De carnis resurrection; De anima.
ST. CYPRIAN, De mortalitate.
LACTANTIUS, Divinae Institutiones (liber VII).
ST. AMBROSE, De bono mortis; De Iacob et vita beata.
ST. AUGUSTINE, De cura pro mortuis gerenda; De praedestinatione sanctorum; De dono perseverantiae,
De Civitate Dei (book XXII, de caelesti beatitudine).
III. Moral and Pastoral Theology
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, Paedagogus.
ST. AMBROSE, De officiis, De Virginibus.
ST. AUGUSTINE, Contra mendacium; De continentia; De bono coniugali; De moribus; Enchiridion (chp.
64-70, de peccatis). De catechizandis rudibus; Sermones; Confessiones.
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT, Moralia in Iob; Liber Regulae pastoralis.
END
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Notes
1 John XXIII, Const. Apost. Veterum Sapientia, 22 Feb. 1962: AAS LIV (1962), pp. 129-135.
2 Sacra Congregatio de Seminariis et Studiorum Universitatibus, Epistula ad excellentissimos locorum ordinarios De Latina lingua rite excolenda, “Latinam excolere linguam”, 27 October 1957 AAS 25 (1958): 292-296.
3 Cf. AAS LIV (1962), pp. 173-175. [John XXIII’s address in toto begins on p. 167; see note 1 above for AAS hyperlink].
4 Const. Apost. n. 8 (p. 135 in the AAS edition). [see note 1 for hyperlink].
5 Const. Apost. nn. 3. 6 (p. 133, 134). -- Cf. S. C. de Sem. Epist. 27 Oct. 1957, n. I (p. 294 in the [1958] AAS edition). [see note 2 for hyperlink].
6 Const. Apost. n. 6 (p. 134). [The foregoing is footnote 7 in the Latin original. The institution alluded to was indeed founded two years after the publication of these Ordinances, in 1964, by Paul VI. Known as the Institutum Pontificium Altioris Latinitatis, or Pontifical Institute for Higher Latin, it is a part of the Pontifical Salesian University of Rome and in recent years merged with the University’s Department of Christian and Classical Letters].
7 Cf. Sec. III, Art. 1, §3; Sec IV, Art. I, §3. [This is footnote 6 in the Latin original].
8 Const. Apost. n. 3 (p. 133). [see footnote 1 for hyperlink].
9 St. Pius X, Epist. Votre Lettre, to Louis-Ernest Dubois, Archbishop of Bourges [later of Paris ], 10 July 1912: AAS IV (1912) p. 577.
10 Pius XI, Epist, to Louis-Ernest Cardinal Dubois, Archbishop of Paris, 28 November 1928. [This document has apparently not been included in the AAS for 1928].
11 St. Pius X, I.c. (Epist. Votre Lettre). [see note 9 for hyperlink].
12 Const. Apost.§ “Neque vero” (p. 132). [see footnote 1 for hyperlink].
13 Const. Apost. n. 3-4 (pp. 133-134). [see footnote 1 for hyperlink] -- Cf. S. C. de Sem., Epist 27 Oct. 1957, n. III (p. 295) [see footnote 2 for hyperlink].
14 Cf. S. C. Sem., Epist. 27 Oct. 1957, n. II (p. 295). [see footnote 2 for hyperlink].
15 The Latin original of these Ordinationes refers consistently to this work as the Catechismus ad Parochos; its full title is Catechismus ex Decreto SS. Concilii Tridentini ad Parochos, first published in 1566. It was the authoritative statement of Catholic teaching until the publication of its successor, Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae, in 1992. [Note: this footnote is original to this English translation. Henceforward, until footnote 30, footnote numbers in this document will be greater than the footnote numbers of the original Latin text by one.].
16 Const. Apost. n. 3 (p. 133). [see footnote 1 for hyperlink] -- Cf. S. C. de Sem., Epist. 27 Oct 1957, n. II (p. 294). [see footnote 2 for hyperlink].
17 Const. Apost. n 5 (p. 134). [see footnote 1 for hyperlink].
18 Cf. Section VII, below. § 3.2.
19 Const. Apost., n. 5 (p. 134). [see footnote 1 for hyperlink].
20 Const. Apost. nn. 2 and 5 (pp. 133 and 134). [see footnote 1 above for hyperlink].
21 Const. Apost. Deus Scientiarum Dominus, Tit. I, Art. 2: AAS XXIII (1931) p. 247. [see footnote 2 for hyperlink].
22 Const. Apost., n. 3 (p. 133) [see footnote 1 for hyperlink].
23 Cf. Const. Apost. Deus scientiarum Dominus, Tit. II, Art. 25, “Ordinationes”, Art. 14: AAS XXIII (1931) pp. 252 and 267. [see footnote 2 for hyperlink].
24 Cf. Const. Apost. Deus scient. Dom., Tit. III, Art. 30 §1, and its “Ordinationes”, Arts. 22-23 (pp. 254 and 269 in the AAS edition). [see footnote 2 for hyperlink].
25 Cf. Ordinationes for Cost. Apost. Deus scient. Dom., Art. 21 (p. 268). [see footnote 2 for hyperlink].
26 Const. Apost. n. 7 (p. 135). [see footnote 1 for hyperlink].
27 Cf. Const Ap. Deus scient. Dom., Tit. II, Art. 25; “Ordinationes,” Art. 14 (pp. 252 and 267) [see footnote 2 for hyperlink].
28 Cf. Section I, Art. I §2, above.
29 Const. Apost., nn. 1-2 (p. 133). [see footnote 1 for hyperlink].
30 In the Southern Hemisphere, the academic year aligns with the calendar year, beginning in February/March and concluding in November/December. There is, consequently, no division of the year as in the Northern Hemisphere, where the academic year begins in the autumn of a given calendar year and concludes late in the following spring of the next one, thus always straddling the division of two years. These Ordinationes, hence, were to become effective in Europe and North America in the autumn of 1963 and, in South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in the early spring of 1964. Note: like footnote 15, this note also is original to the present English translation; therefore, the numbers of footnotes from the Latin original document will henceforward be off by two.
31 Cf. Ordin., Section VII, §3.
32 Cf. Ordin., Section III, Art. 1, §3.
33 Vincent of Lerins, Commonitorium, c. 23.
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DRAFT English translation by Nancy E. Llewellyn PhD of Latin original ORDINATIONES AD CONSTITUTIONEMAPOSTOLICAM “VETERUM SAPIENTIA” RITE EXSEQUENDAM (1962) AAS LIV (1962) pp. 339-368, by the Sacred
Congregation for Seminaries and Universities. This document is a DRAFT and is copyright. The translator hereby
grants permission to download, print, share, distribute, and excerpt it, but the written text may in no way be
altered or edited.
©2021 Nancy E. Llewellyn questions: nllewellyn@veterumsapientia.org
VETERUM SAPIENTIA INSTITUTE
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