Choosing a liturgical language: Language policy and the Catholic mass

Liddicoat, Anthony J.

doi:10.1075/aral.16.2.06lid

Article published In: Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 16:2 (1993) ► pp.123–141

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Choosing a liturgical language

Language policy and the Catholic mass

Anthony J. Liddicoat | Australian National University

Published online: 1 January 1993

https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.16.2.06lid

Religious language use in a multilingual community represents a special case of language planning. The choice of a liturgical language is determined both by religious and practical considerations and is based, in part, on the ways in which people view sacred activities. The Catholic Church has at various times during its history promoted and condemned the celebration of the Mass in vernacular languages. The language policy of the Church has been a response to two factors: the need for uniformity and integrity of doctrine and the need for the worshipping community to have access to the meaning of the words of the liturgical action. These two factors have received different emphases at different times in the history of the Church with the consequence that the Church has supported either plurality or uniformity in the choice of the liturgical languages of the Mass.

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