BELMONT — Father Jason Barone, vocations promoter for the Diocese of Charlotte and chaplain at Charlotte Catholic High School, served as facilitator of the fifth annual “Veterum Sapientia” Latin Conference, hosted by Belmont Abbey College July 31-Aug. 4.
The five-day conference was conducted completely in Latin, which gave the 25 participants the opportunity to speak the language and delve into the rich history of the Church’s use of Latin.
Goals for the Latin-immersion conference included: activating one’s passive use of Latin through games, and writing and performing plays in Latin; and exploring all the different areas of Church Latin – through the Church Fathers, scholastic, liturgical and canon Law – as well as the Vatican’s use of Latin or curial Latin.
Latin professor Dr. Nancy Llewellyn served as one of the presenters during the conference. Llewellyn is the new Latin instructor for the men at St. Joseph College Seminary in Charlotte. The second-year seminarians attended the conference.
Seminarian Jose Palma was one of those at the conference.
“I enjoyed it,” Palma said. “They were teaching us classes in Latin. It was a great experience.”
Father Barone explained that the conference is in response in part to St. John XXIII’s 1962 encyclical “Veterum Sapientia,” “which was written to defend and promote Latin in the Church.”
“Vatican II says seminarians should be fluent in Latin. Before, during and after Vatican II, our most authoritative documents say we need to be fluent in Latin,” he said.
Learn more about the Veterum Sapientia program online at www.veterumsapientia.com.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter