# of Languages the Pope Speaks?

Question

I know the Pope speaks several languages. Is there a certain number of languages REQUIRED to become Pope, if so how many? If applicable, are there specific languages that need to be known as Pope? IF so, I would assume Romance languages would top the list (ie. Italian, Spanish, French, and of course Latin). Does anyone know how many languages John Paul II (Previous Pope) and Benedict XVI (current Pope) spoke/speak?

Answer 1

There are no requirements as such. Nobody made a list of languages and said :"OK, if Cardinal X hasn't that one checked, he's out of the question".Up to the 20-th century, Popes didn't travel much, and media was not that powerful., so Latin and Italian were pretty much sufficient.After Benedict XV (died in 1915, I think) Popes started to come from the background of Vatican diplomacy (i.e. they were former Papal Nuncios) so they at least knew French(the language of diplomacy at the time), plus possibly the languages of countries which they had spent more time in (like German for Pius XII, Turkish and Bulgarian for John XXIII). But then after WW II it was media age already. Paul VI notably learned English during his pontificate (he broke the short-lived tradition and hadn't been a nuncio, just a diocesan bishop). Little did the Cardinals know when they elected JP II that he actually could speak 14 languages (but each one of them was content to hear him speak in his language, LOL).

OK, enough with history:here's the present facts:The Curia (the Vatican offices) works with Latin and 7 modern languages:Italian, French, English, German,Spanish, Portuguese and Polish(which represents all the Eastern European languages). I'd say, if someone knows all these it's a good qualification :)

Benedict XVI knows all these, plus notably Czech (as an Archbishop of Munich, his diocese bordered on Czechoslovakia and he was involved in actions to help the Church there). I think the one he speaks best beside German is French(absolutely no accent).

For the other languages (as recentlyfor Turkish) he has his speeches translated and written phonetically)

Answer 2

+ Pope Benedict XVI +



Pope Benedict XVI, in addition to his native German, fluently speaks Italian, French, English, Spanish and Latin, and has a knowledge of Portuguese. He can read Ancient Greek and biblical Hebrew. http://winelib.com/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI



At the end of his speech on Christmas 2006, the pope delivered Christmas greetings in more than 60 languages. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061225/ap_on_re_eu/pope_christmas_6



+ Pope John Paul II +



John Paul II was fluent in his native Polish and also Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Croatian, Portuguese, Russian and Latin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II



+ Future Popes +



Future Popes will also have to be multilingual but eventually one will be elected that cannot speak Latin. Most priests ordained since the 1960s and 1970s did not learn Latin.



+ With love in Christ.

Answer 3

As Cristian already answered about the current Pope



Let us talk about John Paul II



Among his numerous accomplishments, Pope John Paul II was fluent in 8 languages and adept in 13 languages.



Languages: Pope John Paul II could speak eight languages. He learned Spanish after becoming the Pope. He also travelled more than any Pope in history.

Answer 4

the one we have now is German, so he must speak that, the last one was Polish, so he must have spoke that. i failry sure they can all speak english well, aswell as the necessary latin and italian, and most likely french and spanish

Answer 5

All Popes do not speek thesame # of language

Answer 6

italian and latin are required for sure.