Are Catholic services still conducted in Latin?

Question

If no, when did the switch to English (in English-speaking countries) occur?

Answer 1

They can be. But as of Vatican II the Mass is to be done in the vernacular.

Those dates would be: The Second Vatican Council, the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic church, was announced by Pope John XXIII on Jan. 25, 1959. On Oct. 11, 1962, after four years of preparation, the council formally opened. Four sessions convened; the last three (1963-65) were presided over by Pope Paul VI, who succeeded John as pontiff in June 1963. The council ended on Dec. 8, 1965.

Answer 2

It is often not known that in many parts of the Catholic Church, the services were always in the vernacular and never in Latin. It is important to remember that until the 1100's everyone spoke Latin. There are still over 30 native tongues in active use in Germany. Latin provided a universal way for merchants, lawyers and the western clergy to communicate. Even English language works of the early 20th century will hold Latin quotes on the belief that everyone who can read, of course could read the Latin.

Just prior to the Protestant Reformation, there was a movement to get the service in Latin speaking communities into the vernacular. The bible has always been in the native tongue, but the services were not. The reason is partly the sheer cost to translate, but also every local bishop had their own variant and so it was impossible to do anything like a universal translation.

The Reformation ended that discussion because the Church had too many other problems.

In 1968, the Church switched to the vernacular in any place that was using Latin. Sizeable parts did not use Latin however and for them nothing different occured. However, if a local community would like to have a service in Latin, they are permitted to do so and many do.

It is mostly for Hollywood reasons that you still hear Latin associated with Roman Catholicism.

Answer 3

After the 2nd Vatican Council in the 1060's, it became common to offer Mass in the vernaculer- simply meanting the language of the people.

This meant that you would hear English in an English speaking country, for example...but if there wa a need for a Spansih or Polish language Mass- because there were a lot of people who spoke that language, it was allowed.

Mass was NEVER forbidden after Vatican II to be said in Latin, but it became less popular.

The Pope has recently ( July 2007) issued a letter encourgaing parished to make the Latin Mass more readily available, but there are few priests around who are qualified.

Contact the Diocese- they should be able to point you to a Latin Mass in your area.

Answer 4

Catholic Mass is still conducted in Latin, often at the Vatican and infrequently in around the world.

One of the changes from Vatican II in the early 1960's was to change the language of the Mass to the language of the people.

Here is the Pope's new letter on the subject of permitting occasional use of the old Latin Mass: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070707_lettera-vescovi_en.html

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles celebrates the Mass in the following languages of the people:
American Sign Language
Arabic
Aramaic
Armenian
Cambodian
Chinese (Cantonese)
Chinese (Mandarin)
Croatian
French
Garifuna (Ukrainian-Byzantine)
German
Haitian
Hungarian
Igbo
Indian
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Lithuanian
Polish
Portuguese
Samoan
Slavonic
Spanish
Tagalog (Philippene)
Tongan
Ukrainian
Vietnamese

and

African-American Cultural Focus
Native American Cultural Focus

and, of course,

English

and now we can add Latin.

http://www.archdiocese.la/directories/language/index.php

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

The switch occurred during Vatican II, when the missal was updated to use the vernacular.

However, the Latin Mass is still performed in most areas and according to the Vatican is to be shown all due respect and performance where possible.

Answer 6

Some are

Answer 7

NO THERE NOT ALL ENGLISH "BUT THEY ARE BORING SO I DONT EVER GO!!