Editing Sacred language (section)

==Christianity==
[[File:US Navy 040411-N-1290G-005 Navy Chaplain Milton Gianulis conducts an Easter morning Orthodox Liturgy candlelight service aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).jpg|thumb|Eastern Orthodox liturgy in the [[United States]]]]
Christian rites, rituals, and ceremonies are not celebrated in one single sacred language. Most churches which [[Apostolic succession|trace their origin to the Apostles]] continue to use the [[standard language]]s of the first few centuries AD. Many Christian churches make a distinction between a sacred language, a liturgical language, and a vernacular language. The three most important languages in the [[Early Christianity|early Christian era]] were [[Latin language|Latin]], [[Greek language|Greek]], and [[Syriac language|Syriac]] (a dialect of [[Aramaic]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=Paradise and Paradigm: Key Symbols in Persian Christianity and the Baha'i Faith|first=Christopher|last=Buck|year= 1999| isbn=9780791440629| page =6|publisher= State University of New York Press |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of this World for Crucifixion and Empire|first=Rita |last=Nakashima Brock|year= 2008| isbn=9780807067505| page =446|publisher= Beacon Press|quote= the ancient church had three important languages: Greek, Latin, and Syriac.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East|first= Mark |last=A. Lamport|year= 2020| isbn=9780807067505| page =135|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|quote= the ancient church had three important languages: Greek, Latin, and Syriac.}}</ref>

The [[Gospel of John]] notes that the phrase "[[Jesus, King of the Jews]]" was [[Titulus Crucis|inscribed]] upon the [[True Cross|cross of Christ]] in three different languages, thereby sanctifying them as the first languages to proclaim his divinity. These are:
* [[Koine Greek|Greek]], the original language of the [[New Testament]], as well as the [[Septuagint]] (a pre-Christian translation of the [[Hebrew Bible]]). This was the [[lingua franca]] of much of the contemporary [[Levant]]. 
* [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], the dominant language of the [[Old Testament]] (Hebrew Bible). This was the language commonly used among most Jews in the area.
* [[Latin]], the language of the [[Roman Empire]], which soon became an important language of the Christian Church, especially in the western provinces of the Roman Empire as well as being the language of the "[[Primus inter pares|First Among Equals]]", the [[Pope]], in the Christian [[Pentarchy]].

Liturgical languages are those which hold precedence within liturgy due to tradition and dispensation. Many of these languages have evolved from languages which were at one point vernacular, while some are intentional constructions by ecclesial authorities. These include:
* [[Ecclesiastical Latin]] in the [[Latin liturgical rites]] of the [[Catholic Church]].
* ([[Old Church Slavonic|Old]]) [[Church Slavonic]] in several of the [[Autocephaly|autocephalous]] [[Eastern Orthodox Churches]] and ''[[sui iuris]]'' [[Eastern Catholic Churches]]
* [[Koine Greek]] as well as the liturgical language of the [[Greek Orthodox Church]] and the [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church|Greek Catholic Church]].
* [[Old Georgian]] in the [[Georgian Orthodox Church]] and the [[Georgian Byzantine-Rite Catholics|Georgian Byzantine-Rite Catholic Church]].
* [[Classical Armenian]] in the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]] and the [[Armenian Catholic Church]].
* [[Coptic language|Coptic]] in the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]] and [[Coptic Catholic Church]].
* [[Geʽez]] in the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian Orthodox Church]], [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Eritrean Orthodox Church]], [[Ethiopian Catholic Church]] and [[Eritrean Catholic Church]].
* [[Syriac language|Syriac]] in [[Syriac Christianity]] represented by the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]], [[Church of the East]], [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], [[Syriac Catholic Church]], [[Maronite Church]] and [[Saint Thomas Christian Churches]].

The extensive use of Greek in the Roman Liturgy has continued, in theory; it was used extensively on a regular basis during the [[Papal Mass]], which has not been celebrated for some time. By the reign of [[Pope Damasus I]], the continuous use of Greek in the Roman Liturgy had come to be replaced in part by Latin. Gradually, the Roman Liturgy took on more and more Latin until, generally, only a few words of [[Hebrew]] (e.g. ''Dominus Deus '''sabaoth''''') and Greek (e.g. '''''Kyrie eleison''''') remained. The adoption of Latin was further fostered when the [[Vetus Latina]] (old Latin) version of the Bible was edited and parts retranslated from the original Hebrew and Greek by [[Saint Jerome]] in his [[Vulgate]]. Latin continued as the western Church's language of liturgy and communication.

In the mid-16th century the [[Council of Trent]] rejected a proposal to introduce [[national language]]s as this was seen, among other reasons, as potentially divisive to Catholic unity.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}

During the [[English Reformation|Reformation in England]], when the Protestant authorities banned the use of Latin liturgy, various schools obtained a dispensation to continue to use Latin, for educational purposes.

From the end of the 16th century, in coastal [[Croatia]], the local vernacular language began to replace [[Church Slavonic]] as the liturgical language. This change occurred because Church Slavonic, which had been used in the [[Glagolitic]] liturgical books published in [[Rome]], was becoming increasingly difficult to understand. This difficulty arose from linguistic reforms that adapted the [[Church Slavonic of Croatian recension]] used in Croatia to the norms of Church Slavonic used in Russia. For example, the vernacular was used to ask the bride and groom if they accepted their marriage vows.

[[Jesuit]] missionaries to [[China]] initially obtained permission to translate the Roman [[Missal]] into [[Classical Chinese]], a scholarly form of the language. However, this permission was later revoked amid the [[Chinese Rites controversy]]. In contrast, among the Algonquin and Iroquois peoples, missionaries were allowed to translate [[Proper (liturgy)|certain parts of the Mass]] into their native languages.<ref>Salvucci, Claudio R. 2008. [http://mysite.verizon.net/driadzbubl/IndianMasses.html The Roman Rite in the Algonquian and Iroquoian Missions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008092144/http://mysite.verizon.net/driadzbubl/IndianMasses.html |date=2012-10-08 }}. Merchantville, NJ:Evolution Publishing. See also</ref>

In the 20th century, [[Pope Pius XII]] granted permission for a few vernaculars to be used in a few rites, rituals, and ceremonies. This did not include the Roman Liturgy of the Mass.

The Catholic Church, long before the [[Second Vatican Council]] (Vatican II), had accepted and promoted the use of the non-vernacular liturgical languages listed above; while vernacular (i.e. modern or native) languages were also used liturgically throughout history; usually as a special concession given to religious orders conducting missionary activity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=2786|title=Library : Liturgical Languages|website=www.catholicculture.org}}</ref>

In the 20th century, Vatican II set out to protect the use of Latin as a liturgical language. To a large degree, its prescription was disregarded and the vernacular not only became standard, but was generally used exclusively in the liturgy. Latin remains the chief language of the [[Latin liturgical rites]] and of [[Catholic canon law]], but the use of [[liturgical Latin]] is now discouraged. The use of vernacular language in liturgical practice after 1964 created controversy, and opposition to liturgical vernacular is a major tenet of the Catholic [[Traditionalist Catholic|Traditionalist]] movement. Meanwhile, the numerous [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] in union with Rome each have their own respective parent-language.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

[[Eastern Orthodox]] churches vary in their use of liturgical languages. Koine Greek and Church Slavonic are the main sacred languages used in communion. Other languages are also permitted for liturgical worship, and each country often has the liturgical services in their own language. This has led to a wide variety of languages used for liturgical worship, but there is still uniformity in the liturgical worship itself.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}

Languages used in the Eastern Orthodox Church include (but are not limited to): Koine Greek, Church Slavonic, [[Romanian language|Romanian]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]], [[Serbian language|Serbian]], [[Montenegrin language|Montenegrin]], [[English language|English]], [[German language|German]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[French language|French]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Albanian language|Albanian]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Estonian language|Estonian]], [[Latvian language|Latvian]], [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Japanese Language|Japanese]], and multiple African languages.

[[Oriental Orthodox]] churches outside their ancestral lands regularly pray in the local vernacular, but some clergymen and communities prefer to retain their traditional language or use a combination of languages.

Many [[Anabaptism|Anabaptist]] groups, such as the [[Amish]], use [[High German languages|High German]] in their worship despite not speaking it amongst themselves.