Ulrich Matthias Esperanto The New Latin for the Church and for Ecumenism
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7 Prospects According to Monsignor Josef Grabmaier, a parish priest in Munich, "Esperanto is the best gift the Catholic Church could give to the world".203 At first glance, this seems to be an eccentric opinion, since there are certainly a great many problems in the world, with language by no means the most serious. The Pope, bishops and priests frequently direct suggestions, requests and instructions to the faithful - and sometimes also to unbelievers - which deserve serious respect. It is right and proper that they should encourage people to open their hearts to Christ, to love God and their neighbour. Esperanto cannot be placed on the same level; it is simply a means to a higher purpose. Nevertheless, encouragement to learn Esperanto can have a particular value because it is not simply a repetition of what has been heard before. The proposal to learn Esperanto is not only something concrete, but for most people an entirely new idea. We have already tried to show that it could pave the way to understanding and peace. The Christian Churches often endeavour to mediate between enemies. During the war in Kosovo in 1999 Pope John Paul II made repeated efforts, both by diplomacy and in his public speeches, to persuade both sides to embrace peace.204 However, the war was ended by force. Indeed, we know very well that not every gift offered by the Church is appreciated. If the Catholic Church should decide to take steps in favour of Esperanto, we can take it for granted that this too will meet with some resistance. Still, there is a fair chance that if the Catholic Church accepted Esperanto the world would follow its example. After all, it would not be nearly so difficult as many other actions that the Church advocates. Perhaps we can, then, accept the view of Pastor Grabmaier. A great many people fail to speak Esperanto simply because they have no idea that it is alive and well; they may never have heard of it. Others would like to learn, but cannot find a class anywhere near them - even in cities where there are people who would be able to teach it, neither language schools nor Esperanto groups offer courses because there is not sufficient demand. All this would change if some favourable event would awaken attention, something to which Esperantists have long looked forward. They continue to hope that the EU will examine the language seriously, or that the World Esperanto Association will win a Nobel Prize, or that some famous politician will make a decisive move. The decision of the Catholic Church to accept Esperanto as the New Latin would be just such an event. It would not be necessary, and probably not possible, to make use of Esperanto right away in Episcopal Synods or other meetings, but to decide on this as a future goal would be a most valuable step. Even if the Pope, bishops or Church institutions were to publicly encourage Christians to learn the language, this would greatly support Esperanto in the struggle to become better known and acceptable. Each user of new inventions, such as the fax machine and the Internet, increases their value. The same is and will be true of Esperanto. As soon as the number of users passes a certain threshold it will become a matter of course for people everywhere. Most people now have either no idea at all about Esperanto, or a quite misguided one. This, rather than well-thought-out arguments, may well be the reason why it is not generally accepted. In his book 'The Search for the Perfect Language' Umberto Eco told how he had for decades "dismissed the notion of Esperanto".205 While researching this wide-ranging book he looked more deeply into the matter and - as we have shown - gave a very positive account of it, refuting almost any imaginable objection. The Catholic Church (together with other Christian Churches) is faced with a decision, whether simply to let the politics of language remain the concern of the layperson, or instead to put forward its own proposals, ideas and demands. If the Church leaves responsibiliity for language politics in the hands of Heads of State, Ministers for Culture and national parliaments, this in reality leaves it to the economy, that is, to the global market, the multinational companies and commercial enterprises. These have not the slightest interest in language human rights. For them, linguistic diversity gets in the way of profit. It is, therefore, highly desirable that the Church should involve itself in the politics of language, in which, after all, it has incomparable experience. "If I knew the end of the world would come tomorrow, I would still plant my apple tree today." This saying is attributed to Martin Luther. It is a paradox that many people admire these words, though most still say "I would only learn Esperanto today if I could be certain that everyone else would learn Esperanto tomorrow." But still it is encouraging to see that there are people who choose not to study the languages that would give most advantage to themselves, but that language which could most benefit the human race. It is not unusual to find that doing something unselfish turns out to be a pleasure. Esperanto is an excellent example. To most people it does not appear to be any use in everyday life or in a professional career; they take it up simply from idealistic motives. But then, when they have learnt the language, they find that it has positively enriched their lives and provided an abundance of unexpectedly meaningful and agreeable connections with the whole world. Christian esperantists retain a beautiful vision which the Church could help to bring about by encouragement and action. But even now there exists a beautiful reality of easy communication on a basis of equality in a fraternal atmosphere, with many opportunities to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. We shall conclude with a quotation from Bishop Karel Otcenásek: One of the most important initiatives and fruits of the Second Vatican Council is the new concept of evangelization - 'aggiornamento' - dialogue with the World. We have a superb tool for this dialogue - the supra-national language, which sets no one above anyone else and neglects no one. Let us use this instrument to spread the love of God among the human race.206
EK Espero Katolika (IKUE's magazine) IKUE Internacia Katolika Unuigxo Esperantista (International Catholic Esperanto Union) IKUEJ IKUE-Junularo (IKUE-Youth) JET Junulara Ekumena Esperanto-Tendaro (Ecumenical Esperanto Youth Camp) KELI Kristana Esperantista Ligo Internacia (International Christian Esperanto League) KET Katolika Esperanto-Tendaro (Catholic Esperanto Camp)
KELI, Els van Dijk-Kuperus, Koningsmantel 4, NL-2403 HZ Alphen a/d Rijn, the Netherlands, C. Websites IKUE: www.ikue.org KELI: www.chez.com/keli/ This book's website (English version): home.t-online.de/home/ulrich.matthias/latin_en.htm Esperanto in general (in about 50 languages): www.esperanto.net
In Czechoslovakia the police arrest the organiser of the Catholic Esperanto Camps; shortly afterwards IKUE's Czech section is forced to disband. 1990 In November, the Vatican approves the Esperanto translation of the prayers of the Mass. 1991 At the World Youth Day in Czestochowa, Poland, Pope John Paul II greets the participants in several languages including Esperanto. After an enforced break of 14 years, IKUE's Czech section resumes organising the Catholic Esperanto Camps. In the first Special Synod for Europe at the end of November, Auxiliary Bishop György Jakubinyi of Rumania, now archbishop of Alba Iulia, appeals for the introduction of Esperanto as a means of communication within the Church.
At a general audience in St Peter's Square, participants in IKUE's 50th Congress are personally greeted by Pope John Paul II speaking in Esperanto. 1998 At Taizé, the 2nd Ecumenical Youth Esperanto Camp organises conversation circles and discussions on the Scriptures in Esperanto. 2001 The prayer and hymnbook ADORU of 1,472 pages is published in Germany. E. The structure of Esperanto Pronunciation The Esperanto alphabet has 28 letters: a, b, c, cx, d, e, f, g, gx, h, hx, i, j, jx, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, sx, t, u, ux, v, z a, e, i, o, u are simple vowels like in English f-a-ther, b-e-d, mach-i-ne, cr-o-ss, J-u-ne. c ts - as in tsar, bits cx ch - as in church g g - always hard as in go gx j - as in joke hx German ch - as in loch, ach j y - as in yes (oj: oy - as in boy) jx zh - as s in pleasure r always pronounced, rolled if possible s s - as in see sx sh - as in shall ux w - as in will Words are always stressed on the second-to-last syllable: hotelo, kontinento, familio Endings The followings endings characterize parts of speech: -o noun sukceso - success -i verb (infinitive) sukcesi - to succeed -a adjective sukcesa - successful
grandaj domoj - big houses Adverbs have the ending -e: Lisa estas bela. - Lisa is beautiful. Lisa kantas bele. - Lisa sings beautifully.
Li havas bonan amikon. - He has a good friend. The article The definite article (the) is "la". The English indefinite article (a, an) is not translated: la tablo - the table tablo - a table la tabloj - the tables tabloj - tables Personal pronouns The personal pronouns are: mi - I gxi - it vi - you ni - we li - he ili - they sxi - she The possessive adjectives are formed by adding the adjective ending -a to the corresponding pronoun: mia - my, via - your, lia - his, ... Tenses The six endings of the verb are: -as present tense -i infinitive -os future -us conditional
2 du
3 tri 4 kvar
5 kvin 6 ses
7 sep 8 ok
9 naux 10 dek
100 cent 1,000 mil Tens, hundreds and thousands are formed by simple conjunction of the numerals: 2,374 dumil tricent sepdek kvar Ordinal numbers are formed with the ending -a: unua - first, dua - second, tria - third, ... Yes/no questions Yes-no questions are formed with "cxu": Cxu vi komprenas min? - Do you understand me? (jes = yes, ne = no) Comparison The comparative of adjectives is formed with "pli" (more), the superlative with "plej" (most): granda - big pli granda ol - bigger than plej granda - biggest
re- again, back: vidi - see, revidi - see again; veni - come, reveni - come back, return
-ebl possibility: vidi - to see, videbla - visible -eg more, bigger: varma - warm, varmega - hot -ej place: lerni - to lern, lernejo - school -et less, smaller: libro - book, libreto - booklet -ig to make: plena - full, plenigi - to fill -il tool, instrument: razi - to shave, razilo - razor -in feminine: regxo - king, regxino - queen -ul person: sankta - holy, sanktulo - a saint
Esperanto as an alternative to his original idea of translating Father Korytkowski's work into German. This is how the book "Esperanto - das neue Latein der Kirche"210 came to be published in 1999. Most of its 10,000 copies were sold within two years. After receiving offers to translate the book into other languages, the author wrote an updated and expanded Esperanto version, published in 2001 under the title: "Esperanto - la nova latino de la Eklezio".211 Thanks to the work of Mike Leon (New Zealand) and Maire Mullarney (Ireland) it is now available in an English translation revised by the author. To all who helped with the publication of this book through their suggestions, contributions or proofreading, the author expresses his heartfelt thanks, especially to the two translators and the proofreaders Adolf Burkhardt (Germany), William W. Patterson and Chuck Smith (U.S.A.), ... The book The international language Esperanto, politically neutral and easy to learn, was created to facilitate understanding between people of different races, languages and religions. From its earliest years it attracted the interest of Christians, who began using the language in order to make contact with people all over the world on a basis of equality. Esperanto gained increasing support in the international Christian community, including the Vatican. This book describes the history and current state of the Christian Esperanto movement and shows how the international language can serve the Church as the "New Latin". The author Ulrich Matthias was born in Germany in 1966 and studied mathematics in Heidelberg, where he gained a PhD in 1994. After six months as a European Research Fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, in 1996 he began work as an actuary in Wiesbaden. He learned Esperanto in 1986, and since then he has taken part in numerous international gatherings of Esperanto-speaking Christians. In 2001 he married Nan Wang, a Catholic from China, whom he had met the year before at the World Congress of Young Esperantists in Hong Kong. Ilustrajxoj Zamenhof at the age of 16 Aleksandras Dambrauskas Louis de Beaufront Emile Peltier
Catholic Esperanto Camp in Sebranice, 1995 National languages of Catholics Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, Italian, German, Polish, Tagalog, others (estimate by the author) National languages of all Christians English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, German, French, Italian, Polish, Tagalog, Ucrainian, others (estimate by the author) World Congress of Young Esperantists in Strasbourg (France), 2001 The author and his wife Nan Matthias-Wang Text on the title page In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth IN PRINCIPIO CREAVIT DEUS CAELUM ET TERRAM En la komenco Dio kreis la cxielon kaj la teron 1 Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium (1966) 36, 1-2. 3 Lexicon recentis Latinitas, LEVaticana vol. II 1997. 4 Karl Rahner, Über das Latein als Kirchensprache, Zeitschrift für Katholische Theologie 84 (1962) pp. 259-299. 5 Benoit Philippe, Sprachwandel bei einer Plansprache am Beispiel des Esperanto, Konstanz 1991, p. 174. 6 See Isaj Dratwer, Pri internacia lingvo dum jarcentoj, Tel Aviv 1977, p. 9. 7 Ibid., p. 8. 8 See Umberto Eco, The Search for the Perfect Language, Oxford 1993, Ch. 14. 9 Georg F. Strasser, Lingua Universalis, Wiesbaden 1988. 11 Pierre Janton, L'Espéranto, Paris 1977, p.15. English edition: Esperanto: language, literature, and community, Albany 1993. Also Gaston Waringhien, Lingo kaj vivo, Rotterdam 21989, p. 449. 12 Árpád Rátkai, La internacilingva movado kiel kreinto de la Internacia Lingvo, p. 168, in Socipolitikaj aspektoj de la Esperanto-movado, ed. by Detlev Blanke, pp. 166-181. 13 Edmond Privat, Historio de la lingvo Esperanto, 2nd part, Leipzig 1927, p.62. 15 Ibid., p. 418. 16 Adolf Holzhaus, Doktoro kaj lingvo Esperanto, Helsinki 1969. 17 Originala Verkaro, p. 420; Marjorie Boulton, Zamenhof, Creator of Esperanto, London 21980, p.15. 18 Gaston Waringien, Lingvo kaj vivo, Rotterdam 21989, pp. 41-48. 19 Originala Verkaro, p. 421. 21 L.L. Zamenhof, Dua Libro de l'lingvo Interncia, Warsaw 1888, see Originala Verkaro, p. 26. 22 Originala Verkaro, p. 21. 23 Originala Verkaro, pp. 145-146. 24 V. N. Devjatnin, Vizito cxe d-ro Zamenhof, LEA/G Magazino 1/1993, p. 3. 25 Originala Verkaro, p. 496. 26 Enciklopedio de Esperanto, p. 59. 27 Marei Drassdo-Walcher, Die Kunstsprache als Hoffnungsbanner, Stuttgarter Nachrichten 07.03.1987. 28 Edmond Privat, Vivo de Zamenhof, East Perth 51977, p. 80. 29 Originala Verkaro, p. 237. 30 Vivo de Zamenhof, p. 130. 31 Ibid., p. 131. 32 Ibid., p. 116. 33 Ibid., p. 131. 34 Originala Verkaro, p. 370. 35 Ibid., p. 372. 36 Marjorie Boulton, L.L. Zamenhof - Pioneer Poet, in Rüdiger Eichholz (ed.), Esperanto in the Modern World, Baileboro 1982, p. 83. 37 Originala Verkaro, pp. 312-313, 315, 325. 38 Ibid., pp. 408-409. 39 Ibid., p. 340. 40 Enciklopedio de Esperanto, p. 281. 41 Ibid., p. 100. 42 Originala Verkaro, p. 491; see also Enciklopedio de Esperanto, p. 351, and Ulrich Lins, La dangxera lingvo, Gerlingen 1988, p. 29. 43 William Auld, La fenomeno Esperanto, Rotterdam 1988, p. 80. 44 La dangxera lingvo, p. 30. 45 Lorenzo Rosati, Pastro Emile Peltier (1870-1909), |