Why all this Latin?

OK, Father, why are you using Latin this weekend?  The simple answer: Because Latin is a rich and essential part of our Catholic heritage.  We need to remember that, while Vatican II permitted the use of the vernacular (the local, spoken language), it did not forbid or outlaw the use of Latin.  In fact, Vatican II promoted the preservation of Latin in the Liturgy.  But like so many other aspects of our interpretation of the Council, we took things to extremes.

Believe me, I have no desire to return to an all-Latin liturgy. However, the occasional (twice a year) use of the Eucharistic Prayer in Latin is a way to speak to our heritage and the beauty, universality and "other worldliness" of our Catholic liturgy.  

There are many reasons why Latin should still play an important part in the liturgy of today's Church. Vatican II itself envisaged the continued use of Latin: "The use of Latin is to be preserved in the Latin rites." (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 36) Latin has been used in the rites of the Western Church since at least the fourth century, if not earlier. It is not surprising therefore that the Novus Ordo introduced by Pope Paul VI in 1970 was composed in Latin. Vernacular translations followed, rather than preceded, the Latin original. The use of the Church's traditional language of worship has the following important benefits:

1. It is a sacral language, associated with the single, exalted purpose of the worship of God. The use of Latin in this way should not surprise us for a sacral language is a feature of all the major world religions: classical Arabic in Islam, Sanskrit in Hinduism and, of course, Hebrew in Judaism - the language in which Our Lord would have prayed. 
2. Latin helps us overcome limitations of time and place, and helps us participate in the universal reality of the Catholic Church, linking us with the generations who have worshiped before us. 
3. The use of Latin in all countries and across the centuries is a powerful symbol of the Church's unity. 
4. The use of Latin enables also the use of the great liturgical music of the Church, particularly plainchant and polyphony. Vatican II said: "The treasury of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care." (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 114)

Consider the following quote from Cardinal Arinze:

Did Vatican II discourage Latin?

Some people think, or have the perception, that the Second Vatican Council discouraged the use of Latin in the liturgy. This is not the case.

Just before he opened the Council, Bl. Pope John XXIII in 1962 issued an Apostolic Constitution to insist on the use of Latin in the Church. The Second Vatican Council, although it admitted some introduction of the vernacular, insisted on the place of Latin: "Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites" (SC, n. 36).

The Council also required that seminarians "should acquire a command of Latin which will enable them to understand and use the source material of so many sciences and the documents of the Church as well" (Optatam Totius, n. 13). The Code of Canon Law published in 1983 enacts that "the Eucharistic celebration is to be carried out either in the Latin language or in another language, provided the liturgical texts have been lawfully approved" (can. 928).

Those, therefore, who want to give the impression that the Church has put Latin away from her liturgy are mistaken. A manifestation of people's acceptance of Latin liturgy well celebrated was had at the world level in April 2005, when millions followed the burial rites of Pope John Paul II and then, two weeks later, the inauguration Mass of Pope Benedict XVI over the television.

It is remarkable that young people welcome the Mass celebrated sometimes in Latin. 

Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, delivered this Keynote Address at the Gateway Liturgical Conference which was held in St Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., 11 November 2006