It says something about the American press that when a Pope is mistranslated by his own Vatican, it gets first noticed by a blogger reading a British magazine’s website, but that’s for another post…
Luke Coppen, editor of Britain’s Catholic Herald, has a piece in the Spectator‘s website describing the reactions to Pope Francis’ recent comments on economic and cultural issues. In the process, he touched upon Evangelii Gaudium, and noted a major problem – namely the Vatican fouled up the translation.
No, I’m not kidding (emphasis in original):
Perhaps the real challenge for the Pope this year will come from a different quarter. In his first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Francis criticised ‘trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice’. In classic Vatican style, that was a mistranslation of the original Spanish, which rejected the theory that ‘economic growth, encouraged by a free market alone’, would ensure more justice.
Oops.
It’s hard enough for folks outside the Catholic Church (and even some inside) to appreciate the complexity of the Pope’s statements even when he is translated correctly. Foul-ups like this can even trip up the experts.
@deejaymcguire | facebook.com/people/Dj-McGuire | DJ’s posts
