Most Holy Father,

It is with great sadness that we mourn the absence of almost anything written in Latin on the Web site of the Vatican (www.vatican.va), and we are hoping that your Holiness might be willing to remedy this situation in the near future. For a long time we have wondered why all the readers of those Web pages, who are mostly Catholic, may read the pages in English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, or Portuguese, but never in Latin. We note that Your Holiness personally declared Latin to be the native language of the Roman Church, and Your illustrious predecessors have continuously maintained that Latin should be preserved and used for Church matters.

We hasten to add that this petition should not in any way be interpreted as a request to reduce the role of modern languages in the Church. Our only concern is that Latin be allowed to take its proper place with the other languages.

Few doubt the power of the internet, especially among young people. If young Catholics are to be led to the Roman Church and to a love for her native tongue, and if the youth of the entire world are to grow in the humanism exemplified by Latin, we earnestly request that Your Holiness order the Web pages of the Vatican Web site to be put up in Latin, as well as in the usual modern languages.

We pray God for the health and safety of Your Holiness and of the whole Church entrusted to Your care.