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Ecclesiastical Latin (sometimes called Church Latin) is the Latin dialect as used in documents of the Roman Catholic Church and in its Latin liturgies. Though its pronunciation differs slightly from that of Classical Latin, it is not a distinct language or dialect, but only the Latin language used for ecclesiastical purposes, as the same language can be used also for commercial purposes, for purposes of invective, or recreation. The Church issued the dogmatic definitions of the first seven General Councils in Greek, and even in Rome Greek remained at first the language of the liturgy and the language in which the first Popes wrote. (In fact, during the Late Republic and Early Empire periods, educated Roman citizens were generally fluent in Greek, although state business was conducted in Latin. The books that eventually became the New Testament were originally written in Greek and only later translated into Latin.) The Holy See has no obligation to use Latin as its official language and, in theory, could change its practice. However, such a change appears unlikely in the foreseeable future. As a language no longer in common use (a dead language, though some would dispute the exactness of this description), Latin has the advantage that the meaning of its words have less likelihood of changing radically from century to century. This helps to ensure theological precision and to safeguard orthodoxy. Accordingly, recent Popes have reaffirmed the importance of Latin for the Church and in particular for those undertaking ecclesiastical studies. Especially since the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965, the Church no longer uses Latin as the exclusive language of the Roman and Ambrosian liturgies of the Latin Rite Catholic Church. As early as 1913 the Catholic Encyclopedia had already commented on the beginnings of the replacement of Latin by vernacular languages—but the Church still produces official liturgical texts in Latin, thus providing a clear single point of reference for translations into all other languages. The same holds for the official texts of Canon law.
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