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Pope John Paul II

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jradetzky
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 Message 1 of 24
04 April 2005 at 5:22pm | IP Logged 
Was pope John Paul II a real polyglot? How many languages did he master? Most Poles I´ve met speak at least 3-4 foreign languages.

Edited by jradetzky on 04 April 2005 at 5:23pm

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heartburn
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 Message 2 of 24
04 April 2005 at 6:35pm | IP Logged 
Pope John Paul II spoke eight languages. He learned Spanish after becoming the Pope! I'm not sure what the other seven were, but I suspect that Polish, Italian, French and English were among them.

Edited by heartburn on 04 April 2005 at 6:42pm

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heartburn
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 Message 3 of 24
04 April 2005 at 6:39pm | IP Logged 
Oops. According to a priest named Father Richard Quinn, he spoke more than nine.

http://www.komotv.com/news/story_m.asp?ID=36084

Edited by heartburn on 04 April 2005 at 6:42pm

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luke
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 Message 4 of 24
04 April 2005 at 7:17pm | IP Logged 
Since Catholic Mass used to be given in Latin, that was
probably one of his languages too.
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heartburn
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 Message 5 of 24
04 April 2005 at 7:33pm | IP Logged 
"John Paul II Speaks eight languages rather fluently: Polish, Russian, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and English."

"He spoke eight different languages, learning Spanish after becoming Pope."

...speaking as many as eleven languages. While in office, he spoke nine languages fluently: Polish, Slovak, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and English, in addition to having knowledge of Ecclesiastical Latin.

...learned as many as eleven languages. While in office, he spoke ten languages fluently: Polish, Slovak, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Ukrainian and English, beside his knowledge of Ecclesiastical Latin.

His fluency in a number of modern languages (Polish, Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese) as well as in Latin qualified him uniquely as a roving international ambassador for the church.

Speaks eight languages rather fluently: Polish, Russian, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and English.

Pope John Paul II can speak eight languages. He learned Spanish after becoming the Pope.

Edited by heartburn on 04 April 2005 at 7:49pm

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jradetzky
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 Message 6 of 24
05 April 2005 at 12:51am | IP Logged 
I wonder how he found the time to learn Spanish after becoming Pope. I heard him in Spanish and he spoke with a heavy Polish accent, but otherwise very well. I doubt the next Pope will be able to speak as many languages.
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administrator
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 Message 7 of 24
05 April 2005 at 12:52am | IP Logged 
Although this bears only indirect connection to the topic under discussion, Catholics will remember his Easter address read in several dozen languages.

People from all over the world would listen to the Radio or TV and wait for the Pope's greeting in their language.
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heartburn
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 Message 8 of 24
05 April 2005 at 1:04am | IP Logged 
Yes. I believe it has become fairly customary for the pope to greet an audience in literally dozens of languages.

I don't think it's a written rule or anything, but it's very unlikely that anyone could become pope who didn't speak at least Italian, French and English fluently. (Maybe Francois will be pope?)

And, religion aside, modern popes are very smart men. They've dedicated their lives to studying and teaching. It wouldn't be any surprise if the next pope was a polyglot.


Edited by heartburn on 05 April 2005 at 1:37am



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