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Pope Leo XIV Said to Speak Quechua but Hasn't Used It Publicly
Developing
In Short: Since his election, Pope Leo XIV has demonstrated his linguistic skills in various languages, including Portuguese, German, and Latin, but has not spoken Quechua publicly.
Pope Leo XIV, elected on May 8, is reportedly fluent in Quechua, a language spoken in parts of South America, according to comments from people who knew him before his election.
Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark told CNN that the new Pope had learned some Quechua, a claim echoed by Liliana Loaya Días in a recent EWTN documentary.
Días recounted her surprise upon hearing Pope Leo XIV speak Quechua, saying, 'No way, an American speaking Quechua!' when she first encountered him.
When asked how he learned Quechua, Pope Leo XIV reportedly said he picked it up during his travels to Peru.
Since his election, Pope Leo XIV has demonstrated his linguistic skills in various languages, including Portuguese, German, and Latin, but has not spoken Quechua publicly.
Quechua, the lingua franca of the Inca Empire, is spoken by about 10 to 13 million people today, with more than three million speakers in Peru.
Linguists note that Quechua is a language family, and the specific variety spoken by Pope Leo XIV remains unclear.
Despite early rumors suggesting his proficiency in Quechua, the Pope has not used the language in his public addresses since becoming Pope.
What's still developing
- In the course of ordinary events (for a pope), such as Christmas or Easter greetings “to the city and the world,” he has publicly spoken in Portuguese, German, and Latin as well.
- Linguists, amidst speculations as to whether the rumors were true, were quick to point out that Quechua is a language family rather than a single language, so the question would also be which variety of Quechua he might speak—but for simplicity’s sake, we’ll stick with the general term.
Sources
- aleteia.orglink