Conclave by Robert Harris Page B

cardinals had broken off their private conversations and were all listening. One never knew what Tedesco might say.
    ‘Such a pity! If
I
were delivering it, I would insist on Latin.’
    ‘But then no one would understand it, Your Eminence. And that would be a tragedy.’
    Tedesco was the only one who laughed. ‘Yes, well, I confess that my Latin is poor, but I would inflict it on you all nonetheless, simply to make a point. Because what I would try to say, in my simple peasant Latin, is this: that change almost invariably produces the opposite effect to the improvement it is intended to bring about,and that we should bear that in mind when we come to make our choice of Pope. The abandonment of Latin, for example . . .’ He wiped the grease from his thick lips with his napkin and inspected it. For a moment he seemed distracted, but then he resumed. ‘Look around this dining room, Dean. Observe how unconsciously, how instinctively, we have arranged ourselves according to our native languages. We Italians are here – closest to the kitchens, very sensibly. The Spanish-speakers are sitting there. The English-speakers are over towards the reception. Yet when you and I were boys, Dean, and the Tridentine Mass was still the liturgy of the entire world, the cardinals at a Conclave were able to converse with one another in Latin. But then in 1962, the liberals insisted we should get rid of a dead language in order to make communication easier, and now what do we see? They have only succeeded in making communication harder!’
    ‘That may be true of the narrow instance of a Conclave. The same hardly applies to the mission of the Universal Church.’
    ‘The Universal Church? But how can a thing be considered universal if it speaks fifty different languages? Language is vital. Because from language, over time, arises thought, and from thought arises philosophy and culture. It has been sixty years since the Second Vatican Council, but already what it means to be a Catholic in Europe is no longer the same as what it means to be a Catholic in Africa, or Asia, or South America. We have become a confederation, at best. Look around the room, Dean – look at the way language divides us over even such a simple meal as this, and tell me there is not truth in what I say.’
    Lomeli refused to respond. He thought the other man’s reasoning was preposterous. But he was determined to be neutral. He was not going to be drawn into an argument. Besides, one could nevertell whether Tedesco was teasing or being serious. ‘All I can say is that if those are your views, Goffredo, you will find my homily a grave disappointment.’
    ‘The abandonment of Latin,’ persisted Tedesco, ‘will lead eventually to the abandonment of Rome. Mark my words.’
    ‘Oh come now – this is too much, even for you!’
    ‘I am perfectly serious, Dean. Men will soon be asking openly: why Rome? They’ve already started to whisper it. There’s no rule in doctrine or Scripture that says the Pope must preside in Rome. He could set up the Throne of St Peter anywhere on earth. Our mysterious new cardinal is from the Philippines, I believe?’
    ‘Yes, you know he is.’
    ‘So now we have three cardinal-electors from that country, which has – what? – eighty-four million Catholics. In Italy we have fifty-seven million – the great majority of whom never take Communion in any case – and yet we have
twenty-six
cardinal-electors! You think this anomaly will continue for much longer? If you do, you are a fool.’ He threw down his napkin. ‘Now I have spoken too harshly, and I apologise. But I fear this Conclave may be our last chance to preserve our Mother the Church. Another ten years like the last ten – another Holy Father like the last one – and she will cease to exist as we know her.’
    ‘So in effect what you are saying is that the next Pope must be Italian.’
    ‘Yes, I am! Why not? We haven’t had an Italian Pope for more than forty years.