Guess which document the Vatican web site doesn't offer in translation?

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Feb 16, 2012

Nearly 5 years after Summorom Pontificum was released, Father Z notes that an English translation of the document is not available on the Vatican web site. The text is available there only in Latin and Hungarian. (Hungarian?!?)

In the past two years Pope Benedict has released 4 moto proprios. All are available on the same Vatican site in at least 4 different languages, always including English (and curiously, never including Hungarian). Why haven’t translations of Summorum Pontificum been posted? We don’t know. Questioned about this curious omission, the Ecclesia Dei commission issued a terse reply that the Vatican’s web site is controlled by the Secretariat of State. Hmmm. The Secretariat of State has been under fire recently, with Italian journalists giving heavy play to charges of mismanagement. Up until now we have not seen headline stories about inefficiency in producing timely translations.

But no matter. If you’re looking for a translation of Summorum Pontificum you can find one right here on the Catholic Culture site. In English. It will take us more than 5 more years to post the Hungarian version. We don’t have the same resources as the Secretariat of State.