How many languages should you speak to become a pope?
Speaking and understanding various languages seems well linked to the very mission of the Church: “Come on! Of all the nations made disciples, ”commands the risen (Matthew 28, 19). Pierre, first pope, had he put himself in Latin and Greek to announce the Gospel to the Romans, and speak with his Christian brothers and sisters of Rome? Probably. Even if it was less easy than a certain day of Pentecost, a few years ago.
If we believe the account of the outpouring of the mind in the acts of the apostles (2, 1-40), the first preaching of the Galilean fisherman crossed the barrier of languages and joined listeners from “all nations under the sky” (AC 2, 5). After this boost of the Holy Spirit, he had to do like all migrants and missionaries of all time: learning the language of the country.
Italian, but not only
Today, the Pope must speak Italian to exchange with his diocesans and work with his collaborators. If around thirty cardinals voters, out of 134, do not master this idiom, the others had the opportunity to learn it during their ecclesiastical curriculum. Some from their studies in Rome, others, because they occupied a charge in the Curia, not to mention the 17 Italians of the Cardinalice College who first stammered him in the arms of their mother.
But that is not enough. The mission of the Holy Father leads him to constantly meet personalities from all countries and to travel: all the popes of the 20th century more or less speak a living language in addition to the Italian-except Pius X, pope from 1903 to 1914. Admittedly the technology of automatic translators continues to improve, but, in an increasingly globalized world, speaking at least a few words of the country.
Pius XII, particularly gifted, can speak German (he was nuncio in Nazi Germany), English French, Spanish. “In view of the Eucharistic Congress of Buenos Aires, he even learned enough Portuguese to give his speech without notes,” notes historian Martin Dumont. During his coronation before representatives of a hundred states, on June 30, 1963, the Francophile Paul VI used nine languages in his speech.
Polish Karol Wojtyła, elected under the name of Jean-Paul II in 1978, was noticed from Vatican Council II (1962-1965) by his interventions in French, English, German, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish, Italian and Latin. Enough to qualify it as hyperpolyglotte, a term reserved for speakers of six languages and more. Good actor, he plays with the crowd during his first improvised speech in Italian: “Mi Sbaglio Mi Correctedret” (“If I’m wrong, you will correct me”).
Docte Benoît XVI is barely less well: German, Italian, French, English, old Greek and Latin of course. The German pope puts himself in Spanish during his pontificate, so as to honor the Spanish -speaking countries he visits. François the Argentinian fluently speaks Spanish, his native language, Italian and Piedmontese, language of his ancestors. He learned German by preparing a doctorate in Germany, and has notions of Portuguese, English, French.
Learning several languages is part of the training
The linguistic performance of recent popes can impress. But the practice of several languages is not uncommon among cardinals. It is part of the training of priests intended to work in the diplomatic services of the Church, from which many of them come, the French Christophe Pierre and Dominique Mamberti, for example. It can be acquired by young priests during studies in Rome or in other countries. Or during missions at the service of the Curia. No less than 35 cardinals voters would be polyglot, estimates Mikaël Corre, permanent representative of the daily La Croix in Rome.
Finally, popes have been particularly gifted to speak body language. The gestures of John Paul II as of François gave rise to images fixed in memories as much as quotes. It was John Paul II kissing the land of the countries he visited, François starving a man with a disease distorting his face, or, on his knees in front of the two rival leaders of South Sudan, kissing their feet to exhort them to make peace.
