The state of Vatican City has established Latin as its official language. The official website of Vatican City is primarily in Italian,[3] with a partial version in English. [5], The official website of the Holy See is primarily in Italian, with versions in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish, and partial versions in Arabic, Chinese and Latin.

What is the Official Vatican City Language?

If you know that Vatican City is located in Rome, capital of Italy, you will probably say that the official Vatican City language is Italian, which is partly true. Aside from the regular European languages present, it is only here where Latin is practiced and is somewhat still alive. You can speak English while visiting the Vatican. The Masses are spoken in Italian but also in some other languages depending on the speakers and audiences. In 1870 the area became part of the Kingdom of Italy, whose official language was Italian. At the moment, Papacy has realized the power of media and social platforms so the Vatican has his own Facebook Page, YouTube channel and Pope has his own Twitter feed when he writes on English. Most of the everyday news is written and published in the local language, Italian, but all liturgical documents are written and spoken in Latin.

[9] The Vatican News website is available in many languages: Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hindi, Hungarian, Malayalam, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Tigrinya, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.

Vatican City is a city state that came into existence in 1929. [6] Some content is also available in many other languages, such as Albanian, Belarusian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Slovene, Swahili and Ukrainian. The official online paper is published in several different languages, where you can read news about Pope, find prayers, when he is holding public audiences, and when he will go to a summer residence in the town of Castel Gandolfo. Although Latin is the official language of the Catholic Church, spoken Latin is quite rare in Vatican City. Since the state was established, native languages of the popes have been Italian, German, Polish and Spanish. For example, in 2013, Pope Benedict`s XVI resignation speech was entirely written and spoken in Latin, so all of the commentators did not understand what happened, but it was the exception, not the rule. The subsequent Papal States also used Latin for official purposes during the first centuries of their existence, but various Italian languages were spoken, such a standard Italian (based on Tuscan). We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Outside the Vatican the official language is Italian, after all, we are in Italy. [4] Previous versions of the website were also available in French, German and Spanish. It is only at the Vatican state that the Latin language is not “dead” but is very much alive and used in everyday communication by its inhabitants.

However, many other languages are also used by institutions situaed within the state, such as the Holy See and the Swiss Guard, as well as personally by its diverse population. Vatican City is located inside of Rome, Italy. [7][8], The Holy See's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano is published in Italian, English, French, German, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. The population is composed of clergy, other religious members, and lay people serving the state (such as the Swiss Guard) and their family members. You can also hear inside the walls of the Vatican City Spanish, English, French, German, even Arabic. As of 2019, Vatican City had a total population of 825, including 453 residents (regardless of citizenship) and 372 Vatican citizens residing elsewhere (diplomats of the Holy See to other countries and cardinals residing in Rome). In the Vatican state, Latin is alive and it is used every day in the communication of the inhabitants of the Vatican. Besides the living and regular European languages in Vatican City, you can read and hear Latin, a dead language. The official language of the Holy See is Latin, and all the documents are written in Latin. The Fundamental Law of Vatican City State does not establish an official language, but its laws are published in Italian in a supplement to the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See), which is mainly in Latin.

However, written Latin appears in various places around Vatican City, in use as casual as ATM machines. Even if the so-called “dead language” is popular amongst those living in the Vatican, most do understand and know how to speak in English. The Vatican laws are Italian, it is still stated in Italia, but the Guardians of the Vatican speaks German. Vatican City is located inside of Rome, Italy. There is no language barrier here. Reading this article, you realize that Vatican City does not have an official language but just one part of the ministry, the official Vatican website host more than ten languages.

You can also hear inside the walls of the Vatican City Spanish, English, French, German, even Arabic. If you know that Vatican City is located in Rome, capital of Italy, you will probably say that the official Vatican City language is Italian, which is partly true.
For those touring the Vatican, you should not fear the language barrier. In the Swiss Guard, Swiss German is the language used for giving commands, but the individual guards take their oath of loyalty in their own languages: German, French, Italian or Romansh. Vatican City uses Italian in its official documents and as its main working language.

If you are planning to visit Vatican City do not be afraid, English is the universal language when it comes to tourists so that you can ask for information in English. The city also receives thousands of tourists and workers every day. It is therefore to be clearly distinguished from the Holy See, which already was in existence for many centuries before that date.. The language only died because most of the inhabitants of Western Europe would speak in their mother tongue. When you think of Vatican City, you think of the home of the Pope and the center of the Christian world. How is this possible? The people who live and work inside Vatican City speaks many languages (Spanish, Portuguese, German and French) because the Vatican City is one of the most visited places in Rome.
When the Swiss Guards take the oath to the Pope, which includes sentences of loyalty and protection, they say it in their native language. The Vatican laws are Italian, while those of the Swiss Guard use German when given commands. Italian is the lingua franca of the Vatican and replaced Latin as the official language of the Synod of Bishops in 2014. Aside from the regular European languages present, it is only here where Latin is practiced and is somewhat still alive. The guard on the gates of Vatican is a part of the Swiss Guards, and they obey commands given in German. Many languages are spoken within the state, as its inhabitants come from many countries. The most used language is Italian, but back in the 17th century, Latin was the language of scholars, that was the language of science, religion, and art. All the countries that surrounded the Mediterranean were using Latin, and language died only because Western Europe population prefer to speak in their mother tongue. Since English is the universal language used often by tourist, those residing there have grown accustomed to English speaking tourists and have learned the language. The subsequent Papal States also used Latin for official purposes during the first centuries of their existence, but various Italian languages were spoken, such a standard Italian (based on Tuscan).

All citizens, residents and places of worship in the city are Catholic. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. [2] The Holy See, the entity with authority over the state (yet legally distinct), uses Latin as its official language, Italian as its main working language, and French as its main diplomatic language.

It is the Italian language that used by most of those located within the state; however the official documents of the Holy See are written in Latin. In 1870 the area became part of the Kingdom of Italy, whose official language was Italian. Roman Empire, Latin was the main language spoken in the area corresponding to the present Vatican City. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Contact Us - Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy.