Apparently Pope Benedict XVI sent his first tweet in Latin on Sunday (I am not sure if it was his first tweet or his first tweet in Latin; the article was unclear). He asked believers to "orare semper, iustitiam factitare, amare probitatem, humiles Secum ambulare." I'll let you translate it.

quote:

"orare semper, iustitiam factitare, amare probitatem, humiles Secum ambulare."

I believe it's a verse in Latin from the Negro spritual Swing low, tweet chariot.

orare semper, iustitiam factitare, amare probitatem, humiles Secum ambulare

To always pray, do justice frequently, love honesty. [and] walk humbly with Him. Or there abouts.

arnie?

Yes?

The Pope tweets? Præcipitate semen avis!
Z, where does one get "do justice frequently?" I see the words "iustitiam factitare, but don't see how "frequently is derived. What am I missing.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Geoff,

-itāre is a frequentive suffix. palpāre "to touch", palpitāre "to beat, pulse", facere "to do", factitāre "to do frequently" etc. It's found in premeditate, debilitate, agitate.

Thanks, Goofy. It's been fifty years since I took Latin in school - and I've forgotten every bit of it!

The Pope tweets?

I am sure there was some layers of bureaucracy in between the Supreme Pontiff and the computer. Perhaps a cardinal takes the handwritten tweet and gives it to the IT Nuncio for the Propagation of the Faith.

facere "to do", factitāre "to do frequently"

It is interesting that in this case, the frequentive form of the verb uses not the stem fac- of the verb but the past participle factus 'made, done'. When I first saw, I that that maybe, giving that the message is in Neo-Latin, that it might be a more recent derivation, but Lewis & Short cite it in a Plautus play.

arnie, I just meant that you are a student of Latin and might want to translate it, that's all.

Apparently the pope does embrace the Web and social media.

Here is the Tribune's translation of the pope's tweet: "What does the Lord command to those wholly eager for the unity of those following Christ? To always pray, to continually do justice, to love uprightness, to walk humbly with Him," according to University of Cambridge scholar Tamer Nawar.

What does the Lord command to those wholly eager for the unity of those following Christ?

This part of the Pope's tweet was not given above.

[Fixed typo.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

According to some reports, the Pope is tweeting in Latin in an attempt to reinstate that language as preferred for various rituals.

Benedict has relaxed prohibitions against the saying of the Tridentine Mass (the older Latin one) in which the officiating priest has his back to the congregation mostly. He's also changed the wording of one prayer and that caused a controversy (see link). As somebody said: it's not all about Latin and incense.

If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me.