I have a friend who is Greek. She attends a Greek church, and was taught by her church to read and write in Greek. The services are given in Greek, ect.
I also have a friend who is Jewish. She knows Hebrew.
Why don't Christian churches teach Latin? I never understood that.
When the Catholic Church gave mass in Latin, is it true that NO ONE knew what the heck the priest was saying?
Well, I'm old enough (egad!) to remember the pre-Vatican II Mass in Latin, and I was taught what the prayers were in English: Pater Noster = Our Father; Dominus vobiscum = The Lord be with you; etc. Then again, I've always tended to be a person who wanted to know why I was saying what I was saying, and doing what I was doing. :-)
The Bible was not written in Latin, the Latin translation came from the Hebrew and Greek.
It is nonsensical to make every person learn a new language just to read the Bible, that is why the reformers translated the Bible into English...and got burned at the stake for it.
You English Bible was paid for by the blood of many people.
That was the claim but it wasn't true. Then, as now, a certain percentage of the congregation were cultural Catholics. They put in the time and went through the motions but were not particularly interested in theology or doctrine. Thus, week after week they simply failed to ever read the literal English translation of the words of the mass that were printed side-by-side with the Latin in the missal.
Others with more interest understood very well the bulk of the Latin used in the mass and in devotions. At least this was the case in this country. My mother and grandmother followed the Latin with interest and pleasure.