The Pope tweaks conservatives in Latin, by @DavidOAtkins

The Pope tweaks conservatives in Latin

by David Atkins

The Pope has twitter accounts in many of the world's languages, including the Vatican's native Latin. Pope Benedict first instituted and started using the accounts, and the current Pope has seen fit to use them as well. Last night Pope Francis tweeted this:

Rerum tutari naturam non homines a primordiis tantum iubentur sed nostrum etiam nunc unusquisque; divini namque pars totius est consilii.

— Papa Franciscus (@Pontifex_ln) June 5, 2013


A loose translation would be:

People, each and every one of us, are commanded to protect the nature of things not only from its beginnings but also right now; for this is part of the whole divine plan.
That is first and foremost an environmental message, and it has received angry responses ranging from those pointing to Biblical suggestions that people use and dominate the earth, to even a white supremacist declaring loyalty to his own people over loyalty to the protection of nature. It is interesting to see conservative Catholics argue with their own Pope.

More than that, perhaps Pope Francis meant the tweet purely as an environmental message. But it's also possible to interpret it as an economic message as well, seeing the "nature of things" not just in conservationist terms but human terms as well. In that interpretation, it would be important to care not only, say, about an unborn child but about people living right now outside the womb.

It will be interesting to see how successful the new Pope will be in his attempt to drag the organization kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Tweaking conservatives in the most conservative tongue possible is a funny way to try.

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