PRESENTATION OF THE NEW JOURNAL “LATINITAS”

Vatican City, 8 November 2013 (VIS) – This morning a press conference was held in the Holy See Press Office to present the first issue of the new series of the journal “Latinitas”, published by the Pontifical Academy Latinitas, instituted by Pope Benedict XVI in November 2012. The speakers were Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Professor Ivano Dionigi, president of the Pontifical Academy for Latin and rector of the University of Bologna, and the writer Valerio Massimo Manfredi.

The first issue will include an article responding to the questions, “Latin for whom? Why Latin?” by the new director Ivano Dionigi, following an epigraph dedicated to Pope Francis.

The journal is divided into three sections: scientific (“Historica et philologica”); “Humaniora”, dedicated to contemporary literature in Latin, and “Ars docendi”, which considers didactic issues related to classical languages and cultures, ranging from antiquity to the present day.

The volume is completed by an appendix in Latin with “Breves de Academiae vita notitiae”, a brief summary of the main activities of the academy, the “Argumenta” or abstracts of the contributions to the journal in accordance with current international norms for scientific publications, and a useful “Index universus”. The new “Latinitas” will publish articles in Latin and, for the first time, in Italian and other languages.