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To the end of the document To the Contents







Ulrich Matthias

Esperanto - The New Latin for the Church and for Ecumenism

Translated from Esperanto by Mike Leon and Maire Mullarney

Preface by Dr. György Jakubinyi, Archbishop of Alba Iulia, Romania Flandra Esperanto-Ligo, Antwerp (Belgium) 2002,

ISBN 90 77066 04 7, 144 p., EUR 7.95

This book was published in May 2002 by Flandra Esperanto-Ligo, Antwerp (Belgium) . It is also available in German ("Esperanto - das neue Latein der Kirche", Meßkirch 1999), Esperanto ("Esperanto - la nova latino de la Eklezio", Antwerp 2001), French ("L'Espéranto. Un nouveau latin pour l'Église et pour l'humanité") and some other languages .

The book is also available as a WORD file which, contrary to this web site, contains also the numbers of the 212 footnotes. The printed book contains 12 illustrations. Here you can see the cover. The following text is based on the manuscript of 10 March 2002.

You can order this book from Esperanto book services or (for EUR 7.95; free postage and packing to anywhere in the world) from the author.

Ulrich.Matthias@t-online.de

http://www.u-matthias.de

Contents

Preface

1. Introduction

2. The idea of a universal language

2.1 The beginning

2.2 Esperanto

2.3 Other new projects

2.4 Some comparisons





3. Ludwig Zamenhof

3.1 The origin of Esperanto

3.2 The early years of the new language

3.3 Zamenhof's view of the world





4. The Church and Esperanto

4.1 The Early Years

4.2 The Protestant Esperanto movement

4.3 Between World War I and World War II

4.4 The Post-war Period

4.5 The Attitudes of Popes and Bishops toward Esperanto





5. How Christians put Esperanto to practical use

5.1 Internet

5.2 Church Services

5.3 Periodicals and books

5.4 Vatican Radio

5.5 Charitable activities

5.6 Meetings

5.7 Ecumenical Esperanto camps for young people

5.8 Catholic Esperanto Camps





6. Arguments for and against Esperanto

6.1 Language in the Church

6.2 The language problem in the European Union

6.3 Esperanto and cultural diversity

6.4 The advantages of Esperanto

6.5 Deeper considerations

6.6 Criticism and response





7. Prospects





Appendix

A Abbreviations

B Addresses

C Websites

D Chronology

E The structure of Esperanto

F Prayers

G Postscipt

Introduction By Dr György Jakubinyi Archbishop of Alba Iulia, Romania.

When there is any discussion about Latin, I am caught up by nostalgia. When I was a child, in a communist state, in spite of the difficulties I managed for ten years to be a Mass-server. We learnt the beautiful Latin prayers - the responses of the Mass-servers - by heart and recited them without knowing the language, but our tutors took care that we should at least have an idea beforehand of the content of these Latin prayers. That problem was solved by the introduction of the people's language in the Latin rite.

But now there is a problem of international understanding. It used to be said, before the Vatican Council, that Catholics felt themselves at home anywhere in the world because the liturgy was celebrated everywhere in the same language, and was therefore generally understood. Go to China, they would say, and you will understand the liturgy, because it is in Latin. There's a story from that time about Hungarians from Transylvania; they found themselves abroad and went on Sunday to the Catholic church. When they heard the Mass in Latin one whispered to another. 'Listen, even here they are speaking Hungarian '. But anecdotes like this cannot hide the difficulty of the problem. How many Catholics are able to enjoy the liturgy itself when it is celebrated in the language that enabled liturgical unity? How many Catholics leave their own countries whether as tourists or guest-workers? The Second Vatican Council decided to put first the needs of the majority who remain at home, and introduce local, native languages.

In principle, the Council only permitted the vernacular in the liturgy for the sake of communication:

The use of the Latin language should be retained in the Latin rite unless some special ruling conflicts with this. Since in the Mass, in the adminstration of the sacraments and in other parts of the Liturgy the vernacular may be very helpful to the people, its use is to be permitted, as is its use on a wider scale, particularly in reading and instructions, in some passages of speech and hymns, according to the regulations which are laid out in the following chapters.

In practice everything turned out quite differently. The native languages completely took over from Latin. I myself am an enthusiastic Latinist, not only because of my education as a Roman Catholic priest, that is, of the Latin rite, but also as literate humanist, who once taught Latin in a small seminary. How delightful it would be, if everyone in the world understood Latin! Sometimes travel guides appear, or conversation manuals in Latin with such charming expressions: Apud tonsorem, at the barber's, etc. In what country are you likely to find a barber who understands Latin?

Opening the German Yearbook, "Fischer Weltalmanach 2000" we find that there is only one state in the world in which Latin is an official language, Status Civitatis Vaticanae, the Vatican City. The Republic of San Marino (Res Publica Sancti Marini) has Latin as its second official language, the first being Italian. In the Vatican City Italian is only the second language, but even so it is no use asking a butcher for meat in Latin; everyone speaks Italian. Latin has a position of honor, but not in everyday life.

The same can be said of the Church. Latin was the official language until the Second Vatican Council and so it is still. But since the introduction of the vernacular into the liturgy Latin has been banished. Why study Latin, if it is disappearing from the real Church? The liturgy is the home of Latin. In 1970 most of the Pontifical Universities in Rome introduced Italian, though of course they retained a position of honour for Latin. I myself arrived in Rome to seek a higher degree in Biblical study in that same year 1970 when the professors asked the students whether they wanted to continue to use Latin. There was a general refusal. Nevertheless some professors - not Italians - continued to lecture in Latin; they were sufficiently eminent to retain their audiences.

The Pontifical Universities were bound to accept the students' work in any of six languages: Latin, Italian, English, French, Spanish and German. For oral examinations the professors were required to accept Latin and Italian, together with any other language they might themselves indicate. I was therefore able to take my examination in my native tongue, Hungarian.

The Catholic Church ended the Latin epoch by introducing vernacular languages into the liturgy. Good Pope John XXIII on the one hand supported this move, on the other he would have liked to preserve Latin. It could not be done. When Pope Paul VI was still an Under Secretary he set up a foundation to support Latin, which, when he became Pope, he raised to the status of a Papal Institution, Opus fundatem "Latinitas", by the letter Romani sermonis 30.06.1976. According to the Annuario Pontificio 2000 (p. 2029) the foundation had the task of encouraging the study of both classical and ecclestical Latin as well as mediaeval Latin, and of supporting the use of Latin in the literature of the Church. The Pope himself judged the entries for the competition (Certamen Vaticanum) for the best Latin work in any category.

The Pope's Latinist was Abbot Carlo Egger CRSA, an Augustinian from the South Tyrol, who had written a Latin text book on a new style, teaching Latin as a living and not a dead language. The Foundation had its own journal, "Latinitas" to further its cause. I quote a sample from the textbook, a description of everyday life: "Cum die XI mensis Decembris anno MDCCCCLXXXIII in placida sede domestica mea, poculum cervisiae asorbilans et fistulam nicotianam sugens, televisificum instrumentum aspicerem, rem, quam alii forsitan flocci faciant, me nonnihil commovit." (On the 13th of December 1983, when I was in my quiet home drinking a glass of beer, smoking a cigar and watching television, I saw something which others might think insignificant, but which for me was moving.") Fr. Egger in the official publications of the Holy See (e.g. Acta Apostolicae Sedis) introduced new Latin words and expressions and published a dictionary.

Still, it did not work. In the Vatican everyone speaks Italian. The 21 Dicasteries of the Vatican accept documents in any of the six languages listed above but it is well known that if you want to have a matter dealt with quickly, you had better present it in Italian, because that is the language used by all the officials. Other languages take their place in the queue.

It is for this reason that, having become a Bishop, twice at Synods in Rome I pleaded that Esperanto take the place of Latin. This was in the course of the two Extraordinary Synods for Europe, on the 29th of November 1991 and 4th of October 1999, in the presence of the Holy Father. I could see that the Synod Fathers were no longer speaking Latin, even though in the first Synod in 1967 Latin was still generally spoken. The first time I spoke of Esperanto as the new Latin I was met with smiles. Eight years later the idea was still resisted, they simply did not know Esperanto. It was useless for me to remark that there was a tinge of antisemitism in this rejection, because the initiator of Esperanto was a Polish Jew. When my works were reported in the press, this observation was ignored. During a break some of my brother bishops asked me, was it a joke? I replied, that I understood that one could hope for attention in the Synod only if one said something sensational; that was why I had commended Esperanto.

At present if a theologian writes something in his own language, it may be looked at by one or two specialists but will not attract any attention abroad. Let a not-so-eminent theologian write an article or a book in English, and everyone reads it, everyone quotes it, it is accepted as professional literature. The great world languages battle for hegemony or at least for joint reign in the field of language. This is also the tragedy of the United Nations, with numerous official languages.

If a national languages becomes a world language it must, like it or not, spread the culture and the thinking of that people. If English is now to become the language for world communication this will be decided by the American dollar, not English culture.

And so it seems to me, if Latin is no longer used in the Church, why on earth not introduce the international, neutral language Esperanto? International understanding within the Church would suddenly become much more simple, much less costly. I do not intend to speak here of the many advantages of Esperanto. Of course what I am talking about is Esperanto used as an auxiliary language, for international use, while at home everyone would speak their own language. If the Church would accept that solution, which has so long been offered, the language problems would disappear.

There are signs already that the Church might be nearer to acceptance. I will mention only the use of Esperanto by Vatican Radio, approval of full liturgical texts in Esperanto, greetings by the Holy Father at Easter and Christmas and acceptance of IKUE, the International Union of Catholic Esperantists by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

1. Introduction

Sebranice is a small village in the Czech Republic, about 150 kilometres east of Prague. In the valley below the church there is a camping site. Every summer young people from five to ten neighbouring countries meet there. They pray together, they discuss things together, they sing together. Anyone happening to pass by the camp site would suppose that they were speaking Spanish or Italian or Latin. Not so. These young people are speaking Esperanto.

"Patro nia, kiu estas en la cxielo, sanktigata estu via nomo", this is how they recite the Lord's Prayer. It is not far from the Latin, "Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctficetur nomen tuum." And the two languages have a historical relationship. Latin is the old Esperanto of the Church. It can look back to a 2000 year history. It was the language of the teachers of the Church and, right up to the early modern times, maintained its central role as the language of educated Europeans. The enormous wealth of original texts in theology mean that Latin must always have an important role. In 1962, in his article "On Latin as a Church Language", the German theologian Karl Rahner emphasized that "a theological education, essential for priests, is unthinkable without a knowledge of Latin."

This book is not designed to contradict that thesis. Here we shall focus our attention only on the current problems of language. And in this context it is worthwhile to consider the merits of Esperanto. Latin has lost its once invaluable role as a means of understanding across frontiers. It has lost this principally because it is so difficult to learn. Even after four or five years of Latin studies many students are incapable of reading Caesar or Cicero in the original. Innumerable declensions and conjugations have to be memorised, though of doubtful necessity from the pedagogical point of view. It is often difficult to decide the role of a word in a Latin sentence, and the vocabulary of this language is vast.

On each of these points Esperanto has the advantage over Latin. In Esperanto there are no irregular verbs. Nouns and adjectives can be recognised at once from the endings -o and -a. Plurals and accusatives take the endings -j and -n. One can express oneself clearly about any subject using a simple system of prefixes and suffixes and as few as 1,000 root-words, while a further thousand allow subtlety and elaboration. It is worth observing that English speakers find up to 89.5% of the roots partly or completely familiar.

Let us go back to the summer camp in Sebranice. When eighty young Christians from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Germany and Romania spend two weeks living together they have a great deal to say to one another - that is, provided they can understand one another. They bring their different life experiences to the gathering and can discuss together how they may shape their futures.

One of the participants comes from a family of strong faith; under socialism they had to suffer disadvantage and privation. Another comes from an atheistic background. Yet in each one an interest in religious questions, in the person of Jesus, in the Christian way of life, has emerged. The summer camp becomes the springboard for a journey into the new world of faith.

Most young people in Eastern Europe have spent about five years in school learning German or English, with mixed results, often with rather lamentable lack of success. They have heard about Esperanto from their friends or acquaintances or perhaps their parish priest; others have read an article about the language in a religious magazine and taken a correspondence course. Six months is enough to make Esperanto their best 'foreign' language. This raises the question, would it not be sensible to introduce Esperanto into the schools?

Miloslav Svácek, for many years head of the Czech section of IKUE, the International Catholic Esperanto Union, stresses that it is well worth taking some trouble to organize the summer meeting, 'Young people from separate countries come together there for two weeks in a Christian atmosphere, they practice their faith together. There is every reason to rejoice.'

It calls up a fascinating vision of some future time when believers throughout the world may be able to understand each other without any difficulty and then really feel themselves to be one community in Jesus Christ. If the Church would give definite backing to Esperanto this would make it so popular that it might before long be introduced into schools worldwide.

This book will enable readers at any level of interest or responsibility to decide for themselves whether such a step would be desirable.

2. The Idea of a Universal Language

Since the Middle Ages there have been more than a thousand attempts to construct a universal language. Methods and motives were very varied, with a spectrum running from Lingua Ignota, a secret language of Blessed Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) to Klingon, designed by the American linguist Mark Okrand for Star Trek. Here we are interested only in the series of projects which aimed at international understanding.

2.1 The beginning

The theory of Universal Language first blossomed in the 17th century, when national languages had begun to displace Latin among European educated classes. Many philosophers, mathematicians and teachers occupied themselves with the construction of a Lingua universalis. It should, on the one hand, be "easy to learn" and "be of admirable service to communication between different peoples" while at the same time facilitating the process of rational thought. Komensky, Descartes, Newton and Leibniz all tried to create such a language.

They did not generally borrow the vocabulary for their projects from ethnic languages but based it on a classification of ideas. Newton chose to identify each category by a different letter, i.e., tools with s, animals with t and religious matters with 'b'. Leibniz wanted to identify 'Man' as the product of a*r, where a stands for 'animal' and r for 'rational'. The authors themselves recognised that such apriori, philosophical projects for a usable language involved a multitude of difficulties. It is, therefore, no wonder that the dream of a new language to illuminate the human mind had to remain utopian.

A more promising idea seemed to be the development of an a posteriori planned language, that is, a language whose vocabulary and grammar would be guided by those of one or more ethnic languages. The first of these, that of Philippe Labbé (1607-1667) was based on Latin, with the title, "grammatica lingue universalis missionum et commerciorum". During the following centuries there appeared at least thirty further attempts to modify Latin, of which Latine sine flexione (1903) is the best known. There were many other experiments to modify English, French and some Slavic languages. The earliest international a posteriori project was a draft by A. Gerber in 1832.

Universalglot, proposed in 1868 by Jean Pirro (1831-1886), a teacher in Lotharingen, seemed one of the most natural and agreeable: "Ma senior! I sende evos un gramatik e un verb-bibel de un nuov glot nomed universal glot. In futur I scripterai evos semper in dit glot." However, this quite well designed project did not achieve any practical importance. The first to do so was Volapük, the work of a German priest, Johann Martin Schleyer (1831-1912).

Thanks to the energetic promotion by its author, within a few years of its launch in May 1879 Volapük had a hundred thousand followers throughout the world. Some twenty magazines were published and in 1889 there were already 283 Volapük clubs in existence. However, the system of rules made it very difficult to learn; the words seemed peculiar and artificial, and by the turn of the century Volapük faded just as rapidly as it had flowered.

2.2 Esperanto

In Warsaw in 1887 Dr. Ludwig Zamenhof (1859-1917) published the first textbook of his international language, under the pseudonym 'Doktoro Esperanto'. His aim was to contribute to peace and understanding between peoples. Before long the 'nom-de-plume' Esperanto (one who hopes) came to be used as the name of the language itself.

Esperanto became the most successful planned language. We shall discuss it in more detail in the next chapter.

2.3 Other New projects

In the early years of the last century there were a number of attempts to reform Volapük and Esperanto and to produce new languages. In 1905 two Frenchmen, Louis de Beaufront (1855-1935) and Louis Couturat (1868-1914), published the Ido project, a reformed Esperanto which was adopted by about 20% of the leaders of the Esperanto movement and at least 3-4% of the ordinary members before the First World War. Ido was followed in 1922 by Occidental and this in turn by Novial (1928). In 1951 in New York the 'International Language Association' (IALA) published Interlingua, designed by Alexander Gode. Interlingua endeavored to resemble 'natural' languages, and for that reason accepted irregularities.

Even now new language projects are published almost every year. Internet search engines give an abundance of information about, for example, Lingua Franca Nova (1995) by C. George Boeree, U.S.A., Europanto (1996) by Diego Marani in Belgium, who intended it only as a joke, Latina Nova (1999) by Henricus de Stalo, Ludlange (2000) by Cyril Brosch, both in Germany, and Toki Pona (2001) by Christian Richard, Canada. As often as not these languages are invented for the amusement of the authors, but those who hope that their work may find general acceptance soon learn how difficult it is to attract even one other speaker for the new language.

It is interesting to observe that each new plan attracted those who had adopted Ido, and then moved from one novelty to another. Few language projects survived their inventors. Esperanto is now spoken by from one to three million people in 120 countries, Interlingua by perhaps a thousand in 25 countries and Ido by 200 in 10 countries.

2.4 Some comparisons

Below are examples of the first sentence of the Lord's Prayer in some of the planned languages.

Volapük, Schleyer 1879

O fat obas kel binol in süls, paisaludomöz nem ola, kömomoed monargän ola, jenomöz vil olik, äs in sül i su tal.

Esperanto, Zamenhof 1887

Patro nia, kiu estas en la cxielo, sanktigata estu via nomo, venu via regno, farigxu via volo, kiel en la cxielo, tiel ankaux sur la tero.

Latino sine flexione, Peano 1903

Patre nostro qui es in celos, que tuo nomine fi sanctificato, que tuo regno adveni, que tua voluntate es facta sicut in celo et in terra.

Ido, de Beaufront and Couturat 1905

Patro nia, qua esas en la cielo, tua nomo santigesez, tua regno advenez, tua volo facesez quale en la cielo, tale anke en la tero.

Interlingua, Gode 1951

Nostre Patre, qui es in le celos, que tu nomine sia sanctificate; que tu regno veni; que tu voluntate sia facite super le terra como etiam in le celo.

Klingon, Okrand 1985

vavma' QI'tu'Daq, quvjaj ponglIj: ghoSjaj wo'lIj, qaSjaj Dochmey DaneHbogh, tera'Daq QI'tu'Daq je.

3. Ludwig Zamenhof

3.1 The origin of Esperanto

"The idea, to which I have really given my whole life, appeared to me, ridiculous though it may seem, when I was

only an infant, and since then it has never left me. I live with it and I cannot imagine myself without it." wrote

Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof in 1895 to his Russian friend Nikolaj Borovko. Zamenhof was born in 1859 under the

rule of the Russian Tsar in the town of Bia$lystok which is now in north-east Poland close to the border with

Belarus. Zamenhof later explained the importance of this town for the genesis of Esperanto:

The place where I was born and spent my childhood gave direction to all my future struggles. In

Bia$lystok the inhabitants were divided into four distinct elements: Russians, Poles, Germans and

Jews; each of these spoke their own language and looked on all the others as enemies. In such a

town a sensitive nature feels more acutely than elsewhere the misery caused by language division

and sees at every step that the diversity of languages is the first, or at least the most influential,

basis for the separation of the human family into groups of enemies. I was brought up as an idealist;

I was taught that all people were brothers, while outside in the street at every step I felt that there

were no people, only Russians, Poles, Germans, Jews and so on. This was always a great torment

to my infant mind, although many people may smile at such an 'anguish for the world' in a child.

Since at that time I thought that 'grown-ups' were omnipotent, so I often said to myself that when I

grew up I would certainly destroy this evil.

While still a schoolboy, Ludwig Zamenhof began working on the construction of a language which would unite

people. He was the son of a language teacher. Russian was his mother-tongue, but as a child he spoke Polish

and German fluently. He soon learnt French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew and English, and was also interested in

Yiddish, Italian, Spanish and Lithuanian.

His new language must at least be easy to learn, give advantage to none and put no one at a disadvantage. By

the age of eighteen he had already composed a first draft of it. With a group of his classmates he celebrated its

birthday in December 1878. Together they sang the hymn of "Lingwe Uniwersala" which began with the

following verses:

Malamikece de las nacjes Enmity of the nations,

Kadó, kadó, jam temp' está! Fall, fall; it is already time!

La tot' homoze in familje The whole of humanity must

Konunigare so debá. Unite in one family.

However, Zamenhof did not stop working on his language and by 1881 had completed another draft version. He

endeavoured to think directly in his language and by this means finally discovered that, in his own words, "I can

assert with certainty that it is no longer an unsubstantial shadow of whatever language I might be occupying

myself with at the time; it has gained its own individual aura, its own soul, its own life, its own characteristic

physionomy, its own expressions independent of any influence. The language flowed of its own accord, flexible,

elegant and completely free, just like the living mother-tongue."

So in 1885 the Lingvo Internacia took its definitive form. Zamenhof wrote a small book to teach the language.

But no publisher was willing to take it on. Let Zamenhof himself describe how he solved the problem:

In 1886 I began my work as an ophthalmologist in Warsaw. There I came to know my wife, Klara

Zilbernik from Kovno (...). We were married on the 9th of August 1887. I had explained my ideas

and plans for my future activity to my fiancée. And I asked her, would she share her future with me.

She not only accepted, no sooner had she heard my request than she gave me all the money at her

disposal and this enabled me, after a long and futile search for a publisher to myself publish (in July

1887) my first small brochures (to teach Esperanto through the medium of Russian, Polish, German

and French).

The brochures had a detailed introduction in which Zamenhof explained what great benefits an international

language would have for learning, for business and for understanding between peoples, for science and

commerce. It is worth remarking here that Zamenhof already insisted that his language 'would not force itself

upon the domestic life of any people'. It is certainly not his fault that Esperanto has still today to combat the

prejudice that it will undermine the national languages.

These first textbooks also contained the 16 Rules of Grammar fundamental to the International Language, with

some examples: the Lord's Prayer, the first verses of the Book of Genesis, a translation of some poems of

Henrich Heine and two poems originally written in the new language. A folded sheet had a list of 917 word-roots

with an explanation and application of each. On the second page of each brochure there is a notable entry:

'An international language, like every national one, is the property of society, and the author renounces all personal rights in it for ever.' Unlike the inventor of Volapük, Johann Martin Schleyer, Zamenhof handed over his language to be developed by those who would use it. "I know very well that the work of one man alone cannot be free from errors. (...) Every improvement must come from the advice of the rest of the world. I do not wish to be called creator of the language, I want only to be the initiator."

3.2 The first years of the new language

Zamenhof distributed his Unua Libro to well-known persons, newspaper editors and institutions throughout the

world. Replies soon came back, with questions, criticism and advice, and also with with a great deal of

agreement and praise. Some were even written in the new language. Zamenhof decided to reply to all the

questions and encouragement in a booklet which he published in the beginning of 1888 with the title 'Dua libro

de l' lingvo Internacia' (Second book of the International Language).

It was written entirely in Esperanto and in it he told how his faith in humanity had been vindicated 'because a

great mass of people have come from all sides, young and old, men and women to join in the work, hurrying to

bring their stones to build this splendid, significant and most useful structure'. Only a few months after

publication of the Dua Libro, Zamenhof was able to publish the first literary work in Esperanto, the story 'The

Snow Storm' by Pushkin in a translation not by Zamenhof himself, but by the Polish chemist, Antoni Grabowski

(1857-1921).

In December 1888 the Nuremberg Volapük Club converted to Esperanto. In this way the first Esperanto

association was founded. In September it began to publish a monthly review, 'La Esperantisto'. About the same

time there appeared an Address Book with the signatures of 1000 people who had already learnt Esperanto. In

January 1892 Zamenhof was able to state "After four years our literature numbers more than fifty works. There

are 33 grammars and dictionaries of our language in various national languages." [Irish readers will be

interested to know that the English translation was produced by an extraordinary Irish linguist, living in Alaska,

Richard Geoghegan, who had seen the Unua Libro in very poor English translation made by a well-meaning

German, and at once wrote in Latin to Zamenhof offering his services.]

However Esperanto had to struggle with many difficulties during the years that followed. Zamenhof was

miserably poor because neither in Warsaw not Grodno (where he lived between 1893 and 1897) did his

income as an ophthalmologist suffice to keep his family with dignity. His debts increased, and in this situation

even his wife could not accept his passionate involvement in his language.

Vasilij Nikolaevich Devjatnin, one of the first Russian Esperantists, tells of a visit to Zamenhof in 1893:

He introduced me to his wife, about whom he said quite openly that she was not in favour of

Esperanto because on account of it he lost many of his patients. "Very likely," he said with a laugh,

"they are afraid to come to me, because they must think I'm a bit mad, to be working with such

nonsense."

Some speakers of Esperanto kept on trying to persuade Zamenhof to reform his language. These discussions

took a lot of energy and were in the end quite useless. "The whole of this year has been wasted by these efforts

at reform" he wrote in 1894. He distanced himself from them, confident that soon they would be overcome and

all would be well. And so it was; in the summer of 1984 a clear majority of the readers of 'La Esperantisto' voted

against any reforms.

No sooner was this problem dealt with than the youthful language received another blow. In February 1885 'La

Esperantisto' published an Esperanto translation of an article by Leo Tolstoy, 'Prudence or belief' which

prompted the Russian censorship to ban entry of the magazine to Russia.

'La Esperantisto' thus lost nearly three quarters of its subscribers and soon afterwards had to cease

publication. But Esperanto survived this too; from December 1895 the Esperanto-Club of Uppsala published

the magazine, Lingvo Internacia which inherited the role of 'La Esperantisto'.

From about 1900 onwards Esperanto began to make notable progress. Zamenhof's economic position

improved. In France many intellectuals learnt the language and in 1903 the publisher Jean Borel in Berlin began

to publish tens of thousands of brochures promoting Esperanto.

In August 1905 the first World Esperanto Congress was held in Boulogne-sur-Mer in the north of France. 688

speakers of Esperanto came together from twenty countries and were enthusiastic about the amazing

efficiency of the new language. Here Zamenhof insisted in his opening speech, "It is not French with English nor

Russians with Poles who are meeting here, but people with people". And Theodore Fuchs, a University

Professor from Vienna, reported more euphorically, "Grace touched the people, the miracle of Pentecost was

renewed. All felt themselves to be brothers united under the green flag of Hope... Tears filled the eyes of elderly,

sensible men, a Catholic priest embraced a Protestant pastor, and the creator of the new language, Zamenhof,

wandered as if in a dream, his whole body trembling, his composure preserved with difficulty".

3.3 Zamenhof's View of the World

For Zamenhof the international language was part of a wider ideal. He imagined a world in which all barriers

between people would disappear, whether barriers of language, religion, ethnicity or class. But not all

Esperanto-speakers were satisfied when he explained his thoughts to them. About the year 1900, the French

theologian de Beaufront objected to any link between the language and an idealistic vision. He emphasized

instead the practical value of the language, he saw it as a means of understanding in international contacts, he

drew attention to its use in commerce, science and tourism. De Beaufront did not take part in the first World

Congress. The idealistic, almost religious traits in the early Esperanto movement repelled him; he regarded

them as a great danger to the success of Esperanto.

Zamenhof endeavoured to find a compromise between his personal pacifist convictions, which he shared

principally with many Russian pioneers of Esperanto, and the more sober and realistic attitude of other

Esperantists, mainly French. During the first World Congress he proposed a Declaration, which was

unanimously accepted. In it he defined 'Esperantism' as 'the effort to extend throughout the world the use of a

neutral, human, language which, neither intruding in any way into the domestic life of any people nor having any

intention of doing away with the existing national languages', would give members of different nations the

means to communicate with each other; which could serve as a peace-making language for public institutions

in countries within which different language communities are in conflict with one another, and in which writing of

equal interest to all peoples may be published. Any other idea or hope which an individual Esperantist may link

with esperantism is entirely his own private affair, for which esperantism has no responsibility".

If we look at Zamenhof's religious worldview the above declaration shows that Esperanto is neutral as regards

religion or ideology; a liking for the language or membership of its organisation does not imply approval of any

particular religion.

Zamenhof was a not a Christian but he sympathized with Christian belief and with all religions which are open to

dialogue and collaboration. His mother was a pious Jewess; his father was an atheist. He himself gives an

acccount of his religious development:

When I was a child I believed in God and in the immortality of the soul in the way in which I was

taught by the religion into which I was born. I do not remember exactly in what year I lost my religious

faith; I do remember that my lack of faith was deepest when I was between fifteen and sixteen years

old. That was also the most stressful time of my life. In my eyes the whole of life lost all meaning and

value.

At the age of 17 he became aware of something new; 'I suddenly felt that death was not disappearance', he

wrote, and he formed a belief in a 'powerful incorporeal mystery, which is also a fountain of love and truth,' as he

wrote in 1905 in his poem Sub la verda standardo. He knew what a positive effect religious belief can have,

The child of a declared unbeliever can never feel in his heart that warmth, that happiness which the

church, the traditional customs, the possession of 'God' in his heart give to other children. How

cruelly the child of the nonreligious parents suffers when he sees other children, perhaps very poor,

but with happy hearts going to their churches, while he has no guiding rules, no feast days, no

accepted customs!

He told some young Christians, 'I am simply of Hebrew birth, a believer in humanity; ... but what can be more

beautiful in the world than to follow completely the teachings of Jesus?'

Some sort of religious conviction compelled Zamenhof to long for a world in which love, truth and peace would

reign. He probably expressed this most clearly in the above mentioned 'Prayer under the Green Banner'. His

childhood experiences and the murderous pogroms by Russian soldiers in his native town, Bialystok, made him

resolute in his determination to help people to live peacefully together. In his speech to the second World

Esperanto Congress in Geneva in 1906 he said:

In the streets of my unhappy native town savage men with axes and iron bars threw themselves like

cruel beasts upon the peaceful inhabitants whose only fault was that they spoke a different language

and had their own religion, different from these savages. On this account they broke the skulls and

put out the eyes of men and women, frail old people and helpless children. I do not want to tell you

the terrible details of the monstrous Bialystok butchery; to you as Esperantists I want to say only, that

the walls between the peoples, the walls against which we fight, are still fearfully high and thick.

Because of these experiences he emphasizes that he emphasizes that "we want to have nothing to do with the

kind of Esperanto that wishes to serve commerce and practical utility exclusively!" For him what matters is

"brotherhood and justice between all peoples".

He was equally decided, but not so outspoken as he was about linguistic barriers, in his wish to bring religions

closer together. The sixth and last verse of his poem says, "Christians, Hebrews and Muslims, we are all

children of God." But during the first Congress, when he recited the poem after the opening speech and in the

"Fundamenta Krestomatio" to which he transferred it, these lines are missing. Marjorie Boulton, author of a

biography of Zamenhof in English, wrote:

For many years friends forced Zamenhof to castrate the poem ideologically, omitting the sixth verse,

according to which Christians, Jews and Moslems are all children of God; his Christian friends in

France, and even some non-Christians friends feared that, in the period of the Dreyfus case, that

concept would compromise Esperanto in many eyes.

Zamenhof conducted himself with similar caution in connection with his writings about "Hillelism" or

"homaranismo." These were concerned with teaching human brotherhood. The term "Hillelism" comes from

Hillel, a learned Jew who was active between the years 30 B.C. and 10 A.D. in Jerusalem. In case it should

appear that he was concerned only with discrimination against Jews, Zamenhof later preferred the title

Homaranismo. As early as 1901 Zamenhof wrote a tract entitled "Hillelismo" and sent it to some friends. In

1906 he offered it to a wider public, publishing it in the form of a brochure and in an article in the Ruslanda

Esperantisto. Both were anonymous, and in footnotes he always called attention to the fact that one could be a

very good Esperantist and object to both Hillelism and homaranismo.

In the World Esperanto Congress in 1912 in Cracow Zamenhof requested that he be relieved of all offices in the

Esperanto movement, so that he could work for his ideals as an ordinary person. Now he felt himself free to

publish a brochure entitled 'Homaranismo' under his own name, with content almost identical to that of 1906. It

appeared in Madrid in 1913. The following extracts give an idea of his thoughts:

I believe that all peoples are equal and I value every human being according to his personal merit

and his actions, not his origin. I regard as barbarity every offence or persecution of a human being

merely because he is of another race, with another language or religion different from my own.

I believe that every country belongs not to this or that race, but with fully equal rights to all the people

living in it.

These extracts demonstrate that Zamenhof was ahead of his time. His struggles for mutual respect,

understanding, equal rights and peaceful co-existence of religions and peoples are as relevant today as ever.

4. The Church and Esperanto

4.1 The Early Years

The history of the Christian Esperanto movement is almost as old as the language itself. Just a few months after

the first textbook appeared, a few Catholic priests became interested in the new language, among them Bishop

Zerr in Saratov.

The first really active Catholic Esperantists were the Lithuanian Aleksandras Dambrauskas (1860-1938) and

the Frenchman Louis de Beaufront (1855-1935) who was mentioned in the previous chapter. Dambrauskas

had heard that Esperanto had appeared as early as 1887, when he was a student in the seminary at St

Petersburg. He ordered a copy of the "Unua Libro" from Zamenhof and began enthusiastically learning the new

language. Only a week later, he wrote his first postcard to Zamenhof in flawless Esperanto. Dambrauskas wrote

the first Esperanto textbook for Lithuanians. It appeared in 1890 in Tilsit (Germany), from where it was

smuggled into Lithuania because, until 1904, the Czarist government forbade Lithuanians to publish in their

mother tongue. Even Zamenhof, living in what was then the Russian city of Warsaw (and from 1893-1897 in

Grodno) dared only put the book on sale secretly. "For reasons, which you probably know (our laws do not

permit Lithuanian books in Latin script) the book must figure in the 'List of Titles' as 'unobtainable'", he wrote to

Dambrauskas en 1896.

By 1893 Dambrauskas had already begun to write original verse in Esperanto. He is known as "the poet of the

Catholic Esperanto movement". His "Versajxareto" (Little Book of Verse - 1905) is probably the first collection

of poems by an individual poet in Esperanto. He also wrote two small books on mathematics and one on

philosophy, "Malgrandaj pensoj pri grandaj demandoj" (Little thoughts on big questions). For half a century, until

his death in 1938, he remained faithful to Esperanto.

Louis de Beaufront was the first French Esperantist. He learned the language in 1888 and at once began to

publicise it enthusiastically. In 1892 he published a French-language textbook on Esperanto, followed by

various books of exercises, dictionaries, grammars and information brochures. De Beaufront, whose real name

was Louis Chevreux, had studied linguistics, philosophy and theology; he had a doctorate in theology and

earned his living as, among other things, a private tutor. In 1893 he wrote a small book with the title "Pregxareto

por katolikoj" (A Prayer Booklet for Catholics). Beginning in 1898, he published the French-language periodical

"L' Espérantiste" which a year later appeared with a supplement in Esperanto. De Beaufront was always willing

to make room in it for articles by Catholic Esperantists. In 1908 de Beaufront left the Esperanto movement and

dedicated his energies to Ido, which he invented together with Couturat.

Both Dambrauskas and de Beaufront took a critical view of Zamenhof's views on religion. The two of them

carried on a lively correspondence with Zamenhof about his "Homaranismo", notably in the magazine

"Ruslanda Esperantisto". Dambrauskas was a Catholic priest who, because of his personal beliefs, preferred

to keep a certain distance from other denominations and religions. From 1889 to 1895 he was exiled to

northern Russia by the Czarist government because he had forbidden Catholic school pupils to obey an order

to attend a Russian Orthodox school. Dambrauskas thought that Homaranismo was "anti-religious" because it

put other principles above the teachings of Jesus Christ. Zamenhof replied that Homaranismo could not

possibly turn anyone away from religion; on the contrary, it could lead freethinkers back to God. Zamenhof's

open letter to Dambrauskas in "Ruslanda Esperantisto" May 1906 ended with these words:

To you, Mr D., whom I know to be sincerely and deeply religious in practice and a most generous

priest of God - to you I ask: if you could turn to that great moral Force, whom you call God, and ask

Him whether He prefers that people should have many religions and thus hate one another, and

each one say that only their religion is the true one; or that people should erect a bridge between

them by which all religions will gradually be able to be forged into one religion, and they should

construct shared temples in which they will be able to work out their own shared ideals and mores in

fraternity, - what would God reply? If you are certain that He would prefer the first, then fight against

homaranismo; but if you think he would choose the second, then do not fight for us (since I

understand that as a priest you cannot do this, at least not now), but at least do not fight against us,

for in fighting against us, you will be fighting against the will of the One whom you have always

honestly and sincerely served.

By contrast, de Beaufront criticised Zamenhof for 'naively hoping that homaranismo would give total peace and

happiness to mankind'. In reply Zamenhof told him:

We know very well that homaranismo will not make angels out of men, just as the Esperantists have

always known that about Esperanto. We have no hope of changing the hearts of those who do not

want peace - we want only : a) to make interracial justice and brotherhood possible for those many

persons who desire it and for whom the lack of a neutral language, a religious and moral foundation

has until now entirely ruled out all mutual fraternisation; b) to secure (and by shared communication

to constantly perfect) precisely formulated principles by which those persons may be guided who in

their hearts might feel the need for interracial equality and fraternity, but constantly sin against it

simply because of insufficient reflection and the lack of a definite programme.

By restrained persuasion Louis de Beaufront succeeded in interesting many people in France in Esperanto.

One of them was Emile Peltier, parish priest of Sainte-Radegonde near Tours. En 1901 Peltier began learning

Esperanto, and only a year later another French Esperantist, Henri Auroux, suggested to him that a Catholic

Esperanto organisation should be founded. Peltier accepted the suggestion. He and Auroux drew up a

constitution and began recruiting members. The archbishop of Tours, René François, gave them permission to

found an association.

You required my judgement of an enterprise which aims to unite Catholics of all nations through the

international auxiliary language called Esperanto. I most willingly approve this project which seems

to me to favour the spread of the Gospel and the strengthening of unity between nations.

Consequently December 1902 saw the founding of the "Espero Katolika" (Catholic Hope) Society. Although

Peltier and Auroux succeeded in attracting about 80 members, no one apart from themselves was willing to

take on a share of the work. As a result they failed in their attempt to register the association under French law.

In 1903 Peltier and Auroux decided to disband the Society in the meantime in order to found a magazine which

would serve as "an international link between Catholics". Its first issue appeared in October 1903 under the

same name of "Espero Katolika". Auroux took on the editing of the magazine while Peltier became its director

with responsibility for administration and finding new subscribers. But only four months later, in February 1904,

Auroux stepped down as editor, possibly because his tendency towards "less than correct linguistic usage"

provoked a great deal of criticism.

After that the whole workload fell on Peltier's shoulders - the editing of the magazine plus the administration of

subscriptions and publicity. And all the while Peltier had to fulfil his duties as parish priest. On top of that there

were financial problems because the income from the 300 subscriptions in 1904 was insufficient to cover the

costs of composing and printing the pages and dispatch. Furthermore he suffered from health problems.

But Peltier remained optimistic and pressed on for his ideals. He received fresh encouragement from the first

World Congress in 1905. He was seized by the idea of brotherhood not only between people of many nations

but also of different religions and was encouraged to undertake ecumenical activity. In January 1906 he

published his "Open letter to all Christian pastors":

[...] It seems to me that the first step that needs to be taken is the unification of the Christian

religions. Many beliefs, prayers and hopes are common to all Christians. Only a few points were, in

an already distant past, causes of disunity among them.

Do you not think that the time has now come when one might examine those old disputes in peace,

unity and fraternity, with souls entirely free of past passions? Is it not amazing, regrettable,

intolerable that disciples of he who commanded "Love one another" continue their mutual hatred

because of conflicts which happened centuries ago?

Peltier suggested setting up a union of Esperanto-speaking Christian clergy for joint discussions leading to

"international fraternity". He received a number of responses, some positive but most sceptical. In the opinion of

Fr Requin, a French priest, it was not difficult to arrange a friendly discussion between clergy of different

denominations; but there remained the problem of "overcoming disputes about dogma". The Anglican

clergyman John Cyprian Rust agreed in principle with Peltier's ideas but also expressed the fear that

cooperation between Catholic and Protestant Esperantists might damage the reputation of the language in the

individual Churches. It may be that Peltier had in fact underestimated the differences between the

denominations, but his ideas for overcoming them remain valid to the present day.

1906 was also the year of the first papal blessing for the Catholic Esperanto movement. In a private audience

on the 2nd of June in that year Father Luigi Giambene, a priest and Esperantist in Rome, gave Pope Pius X

copies of the first volumes of "Espero Katolika" and the "Pregxareto por Katolikoj" by Louis de Beaufront.

Some time later he received the following letter in Italian from the Vatican dated 27th of June and signed by

Monsignor Giovanni Bressan:

I have the honour to inform you that the Holy Father has generously and with particular pleasure

been so good as to accept the published issues of Espero Katolika Magazine, which you humbly

presented to Him in the name of Father Emile Peltier. Very Reverend Monsignor, please make the

pontifical pleasure known to Father Peltier and communicate the Apostolic Blessing which His

Holiness has given to you and to the editors of the Magazine.

The Second World Esperanto Congress took place in Geneva from the 28th of August to the 2nd of September

1906. There the Spanish priest Antonio Guinard celebrated Holy Mass in Esperanto while Peltier ascended the

pulpit with obvious emotion to preach - with the permission of the general vicariate of Geneva - in Esperanto.

But that was the last World Congress in which Peltier was able to take part. His illness caused him increasing

suffering and the magazine "Espero Katolika" frequently appeared only after long delays. But appear it did. "His

moral and spiritual powers were simply enormous - but unfortunately his physical ones were not" wrote Nico

Hoen in his "History of the International Catholic Esperanto Union", "and it was only those powers, drawn from

the deepest faith in God, which sustained Peltier's immeasurably admirable determination and courage."

Only after the magazine ceased publication in August 1908 were people found who were prepared to take over

Peltier's work. Twenty four-year-old Claudius Colas became the new editor-in-chief and the English abbot

Austin Richardson took over the administration. Early in 1909, "Espero Katolika" reappeared with an article

written by Peltier who in doing so disobeyed the orders of his doctor to rest completely. Shortly afterwards

Peltier went on pilgrimage to Lourdes and asked Mary to "either heal him or grant him the grace of dying at the

shrine". That was the grace granted to him. Peltier died in Lourdes on the 17th of February 1909 aged 38. "He

put his beloved magazine into our hands as a dying mother entrusts her beloved child into the hands of friends"

wrote Claudius Colas in the March 1909 issue of "Espero Katolika".

In April 1910, a little over a year after Peltier's death, the first Catholic Esperanto Congress was held in Paris.

That congress saw the founding of the Internacia Katolika Unuigo Esperantista (International Catholic

Esperanto Union - IKUE). In the years that followed, the new association flourished. Every year thereafter, IKUE

congresses were held: in the Hague in 1911, in Budapest in 1912 and in Rome in 1913. The magazine

"Espero Katolika" appeared regularly every month.

In August 1914 the 5th IKUE congress should have been held in Lourdes. The preparations went ahead as

planned; in the July-August 1914 issue of "Espero Katolika" the Irish priest Patrick Parker "with great pleasure"

announced a papal blessing for the congress. But the First World War suddenly broke out. The congress did

not take place; the principal organiser, 29-year-old Claudius Colas, was called up for military service and died

only a few weeks later on the 11th of September at the battle of the Marne.

During the First World War "Espero Katolika" was no longer published and the Catholic Esperantists' other

activities were also interrupted.

4.2 The Protestant Esperanto movement

Protestant Christians, who had learned Esperanto and put it to use, also founded an international association in

the early years of the 20th century. The creation of this association is closely linked to the YMCA - the Young

Men's Christian Association. In 1906 the secretary of the Central Committee of the YMCA in Geneva, Baron W.

von Starck, visited the second World Esperanto Congress in his city. He was immediately convinced of the

value Esperanto could have for his association and in January 1907 he published a very favourable article

about Esperanto in several YMCA periodicals. Soon quite a few members of the Association became

interested in the language while some studied it seriously and looked for penfriends among their

fellow-believers. In February 1908 the German engineer Paul Hübner (1881-1970) from Mülheim on the Rhein

(now a district of the city of Cologne) began publishing a small newspaper with the title "Esperanto en la servo

de la Dia Regno" (Esperanto in the Service of God's Kingdom). As Hübner emphasized, it aimed to be "a link

between all Christian Esperantists", "a community newsletter on the Christian life throughout the world" and "a

guide to Jesus Christ as our only Saviour".

Just as in the Catholic Esperanto movement, the Protestant movement also founded a magazine before an

association. And here too the work of editor and administrator weighed for a long time on the shoulders of one

man, who was prepared to take on both the work and the financial losses. By the end of 1908 Hübner had found

just over 80 subscribers in 12 countries and from January 1909 he published the paper under the abbreviated

title "Dia Regno" (God's Kingdom) under which name it has appeared with occasional interruptions to the

present day.

On the 25th of August 1911, during the 7th World Esperanto Congress in Antwerp, a meeting of Protestant

Esperantists was held. There a proposal to found an international Christian association was unanimously

accepted. In the following months there was a lively exchange of correspondence about the constitution and the

name of the organisation; finally "Kristana Esperantista Ligo" (Christian Esperanto League - KEL) was agreed

upon. KEL was officially founded only two years after the meeting in Antwerp, on the 24th of August 1913 in the

World Congress in Berne; Paul Hübner was elected president. By tradition however, KEL regards the 25th of

August 1911 as its foundation date.

An important event for Christian Esperantists of all denominations was the publication of the New Testament in

Esperanto in 1912. In 1909 a committee in England began the translation under the supervision of Rev. John

Cyprian Rust (ca 1850-1927) and a little over three years later published "La Nova Testamento de nia Sinjoro

kaj Savanto Jesuo Kristo" (The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ). The first edition of 5,000

copies sold out in only a few months.

For KEL too, there were signs of progress. The cooperation with the YMCA in organising Esperanto courses

worked very well; at the start of 1914 the YMCA's Central Committee even officially recommended "the

introduction of Esperanto in all YMCA unions." 3,739 people registered for the 10th World Esperanto Congress

in Paris at which a further meeting of KEL was to be held and a meeting with Parisian representatives of the

YMCA. But as with the IKUE congress in Lourdes, this World Congress could not take place. And just as with

"Espero Katolika", so too "Dia Regno"'s issue of July/August 1914 was the last for some time. The First World

War brought a halt to the activities of Christian Esperantists.

4.3 From the First to the Second World War

During the First World War the use of Esperanto encountered many obstacles. At times corresponding in

Esperanto was forbidden because of a lack of censors for the language; at other times Esperanto magazines

were banned as "a harmful influence on the fighters at the front". Almost everywhere the number of Esperanto

courses and meetings was considerably reduced. In 1915 only 163 people, mainly from the United States and

Canada, took part in the 11th World Esperanto Congress in San Francisco. In the neutral state of Switzerland

the Geneva office of the Universala Esperanto-Asocio organised a service for passing on family

correspondence between hostile countries. The "initiator" of Esperanto, Ludwig Zamenhof, died of heart

disease on the 17th of April 1917 in Warsaw.

It is not easy to find information about the activities of Christian Esperantists during the First World War. But in

his book "Historio de Esperanto" Edmond Privat makes the remarkable claim that "the International Committee

of the YMCA distributed thousands of Esperanto coursebooks to prisoners of war in various countries."

In 1917 Catholic pacifists founded the "Mondpacligo Blanka Kruco" (White Cross World Peace League) which

used Esperanto in its international contacts from 1918.

In 1920 the magazines "Espero Katolika" and "Dia Regno" resumed publication. In the years that followed other

Esperanto magazines and associations appeared. The "Internacio Katolika" (Catholic International - IKA)

deserves special mention. It was founded by the priest-martyr Max Josef Metzger (1887-1944) who later

became famous as a pacifist and "pioneer of ecumenism". Although founded in 1920 during the World

Esperanto Congress in the The Hague, IKA deliberately avoided using the word "Esperanto" in its name. The

association also approached those Catholics who did not speak Esperanto and who may not have even

wanted to learn it. From 1921 to 1924 Metzger edited the Esperanto magazine "Katolika Mondo" (Catholic

World) in Graz, Austria.

In autumn 1926, just over 12 years after the New Testament, a complete Esperanto translation of the Bible was

published in London (though still without the Deuterocanonical books). The Old Testament had been translated

by Zamenhof himself from the original Hebrew. He had finished the work by March 1915. However instead of

immediately sending the manuscript for publication to the Bible Committee in Britain, he could only inform its

president, the Esperantist Rev. John Cyprian Rust, of a major obstacle. Zamenhof wrote to him in French:

"Regrettably I cannot for the moment send you the translation because our postal service is not delivering

anything (during the war) written in Esperanto. Consequently I must wait until the war is over."

For this reason it was only after the First World War - and two years after Zamenhof's death - that the translation

arrived in Britain, where from 1919 until 1926 the Bible Committee was occupied with reading through the text,

correcting it, harmonising the language of the New and Old Testaments, typesetting and proofreading. Two

women Quakers, the sisters Priscilla (1833-1931) and Algerina Peckover (1841-1927) offered the necessary

financial assistance. Within five years more than 5,000 copies of the Esperanto Bible were sold and Christians

of all denominations praised the translation for its clarity and precision.

With minor corrections here and there, the "London Bible" is frequently reprinted to this day. In 1992 a modern

translation of the four gospels was published in Brazil by the Dutch clergyman Gerrit Berveling. In 1997 the

complete Esperanto Bible, including the Deuterocanonical books, was published on CD-ROM.

While the 1920s were a time of successive triumphs and disillusionments, the 1930s brought failures and

disasters.

In 1931 the Catalan priest Juan Font Giralt from Collell near Gerona was elected president of IKUE; the

following year he also took over as editor of "Espero Katolika". Towards the end of 1934 Font Giralt fell ill, so

"Espero Katolika" was eventually edited by Dutch members of IKUE. In 1936 Font Giralt's health improved - but

then the Spanish Civil War began in which ten thousand Christians died for their faith. Font Giralt too was

horribly martyred; on the 17th of August his hands were chopped off and his body was burnt.

We now return to the Protestant Esperanto movement. In 1932, after a pause of several years, the magazine

"Dia Regno" recommenced publication, again in fact under the editorship of Paul Hübner who during the 1920s

had to limit his work for KELI because of personal, professional and financial reasons. During the 1930s

Esperanto prospered in the Netherlands particularly, which to some extent was to KELI and IKUE's advantage.

The situation in Germany was more difficult. There Adolf Hitler came to power early in 1933. It is well known that

unfortunately many German Christians had an initially favourable opinion of Nazism, and consequently it should

come as no surprise that even Paul Hübner in "Dia Regno"'s issue 4 of 1933 told the KELI members in other

countries that "the tide of atheism" had been halted and "Christianity is saved".

As late as 1936 Hübner expressed the hope that "it should not be long before our official organisations in

Germany also recognise the value of Esperanto and again support the movement".

But there were no grounds for such optimism. In February 1936 Martin Bormann, the chief of staff of Hitler's

deputy, signed the following decree:

Because the creation of an international hybrid language contradicts the basic concepts of National

Socialism and ultimately can only serve the interests of supranational powers, the Führer's deputy

forbids all party members and members of organisations affiliated to the party to belong to all forms

of artificial language associations.

A few months later, on the 20th of June 1936, a decree by the Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler ordered the

Esperanto associations in Germany to disband if they wished to avoid being compulsorily dissolved. From then

on all forms of activity by KELI and IKUE were also forbidden in Germany and KELI's international operations

were taken over by Dutch and Swedish members. While most of the German Esperantists lost heart and

accepted the ban on Esperanto activity, Paul Hübner continued to write articles for "Dia Regno". From January

1938 however, these appeared only with the signature "N.N."

At the end of the 1930s both "Espero Katolika" and "Dia Regno" were being edited in the Netherlands. After

World War Two began, both periodicals were prevented from reaching most of their subscribers. "Espero

Katolika" of January/February 1940 was the last issue until the end of the war. On the 10th of May 1940 German

troops occupied Holland and February 1941 saw the final issue of "Dia Regno" because in March "the entire

Esperanto movement in Holland was banned as 'a Jewish affair'". However Christian Esperantists did not

entirely cease their activities during the Second World War: from 1941 to 1945 KELI's Swedish section

distributed a total of seven issues of "Temporary Dia Regno", but these reached only a small percentage of the

addressees.

In the countries ruled by Hitler and Stalin, Esperantists were among the victims of those dictators. In Germany

some Esperantists were arrested and sent to concentration camps merely because of their work for Esperanto;

others were arrested primarily for being of Jewish descent or for their general pacifist involvement. The victims

of Nazism include all three of Zamenhof's children. They had been arrested in January 1940. Zamenhof's only

son, Adam, was immediately shot; the daughters Zofia and Lidja were sent to the Treblinka concentration camp

in 1942 where they were killed in August and October respectively of that same year. The Esperantist and

founder of the Una-Sancta Movement, Max Josef Metzger, was arrested in 1943 and sentenced to death for

treason; on the 17th of April 1944 he was beheaded.

The Soviet dictator Stalin regarded as suspect anyone who had international contacts and to that category the

Esperantists also belonged. According to various estimates, in the "Great Purge" launched on a massive scale

in March 1937, a total of between 2,000 and 30,000 Esperantists perished. Stalin's victims included famous

Esperanto writers or Esperantologists such as Vladimir Varankin (1902-1938) and Ernest Drezen

(1892-1937).

4.4 The Post-war Period

After the war ended the Christian Esperanto associations IKUE and KELI were able to re-establish themselves

quite quickly in the West. In 1946 the periodicals "Espero Katolika" and "Dia Regno" reappeared, and not long

afterwards Protestant Esperantists carried out a long dreamt-of plan: in summer 1948 they held the first KELI

congress in Tostarp, Sweden. Previously they had come together during World Esperanto Congresses where

the KELI meetings were held. But this first independent congress was a total success. "In Europe, still suffering

from thousands of unhealed wounds, that simple coming together of Christians from seven countries, of

brothers and sisters speaking one language ... made an unforgettable impression" reports Henk de Hoog

(1910-2001) in his history of KELI. After that, no one wanted to miss out on this kind of event and since 1948

similar KELI congresses have been held almost every year.

In 1950, after a break of 11 years, Catholic Esperantists once again organised a congress. It was the 22nd

IKUE Congress and the third held in Rome (after those of 1913 and 1935).

In Eastern Europe the situation remained very difficult. There, under Stalin's influence, Communist regimes

were set up which were hostile both to Esperanto and to Christianity and consequently had two reasons for

banning the activities of IKUE and KELI. During the "Cold War" era, contact with Western countries where IKUE

and KELI had their headquarters was frowned on, while the governments of Soviet Union's satellites wanted to

interest their citizens in the "real world language", namely Russian. In the German Democratic Republic for

example, Esperantists were allowed neither to organise nor publicise their language from 1949 until 1965 and

even after that Esperanto activity was possible only within the framework of specified structures which did not

allow for cooperation with IKUE or KELI.

The situation in Poland was somewhat more favourable. In 1957 the government at least allowed in "Espero

Katolika" (although difficulties remained over the payment of subscriptions). But for a long time close

cooperation between Christian Esperantists from East and West was not possible and so it is not surprising

that in the 1950s and 1960s all IKUE and KELI congresses were held in Western countries.

In the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) the Catholic Church emphasized its readiness for ecumenical

cooperation. In July 1966 IKUE accepted KELI's invitation to organise the first joint congress of the two

associations. It took place in Limburg (Germany) and was at the same time la 32nd Congress of IKUE and the

21st KELI Congress.

In the same year, the "Prague Spring" encouraged the Czech members of IKUE and members of the Hussite

Church to send out invitations to an ecumenical Esperanto congress in their country. It was scheduled to take

place in summer 1970 in Brno. But after the Soviet armed forces invaded, a "normalisation process" began

and the Ministries of Culture and the Interior banned the holding of the congress six weeks before its planned

opening. The congress was moved to Klagenfurt but only a few of those from Eastern Europe who registered

for it succeeded in getting the necessary Austrian visa in time.

In yet another initiative by Czech IKUE members, the Catholic Esperanto Camps begun in 1969. They were

officially called "Recreational Esperanto Camps" so as to partly conceal their religious character. For several

years every summer young Catholics from Czechoslovakia and some other countries such as Poland, Hungary,

the Netherlands and Italy came together there in friendship - until in July 1977 police raided the camp and

arrested the organisers, Miloslav Svacek and Father Vorjtech Srna. Shortly afterwards IKUE's Czech section

was disbanded.

Once again the situation was brighter in Poland where in that same summer the 37th IKUE Congress was held.

It was the first congress of its kind in a socialist country and is still the largest-ever IKUE congress with more

than 700 participants. Catholics from East and West met twice more in socialist countries before the fall of the

Iron Curtain - in Varna (1978) and Czestochowa (1987).

The extinction of the totalitarian regimes gave Christian Esperantists in Eastern Europe the freedom they had

dreamed of for so long. On the 19th of May 1990 almost 13 years after it was banned, IKUE's Czech section

was re-established and - still under the leadership of Miloslav Svacek - it immediately became one of the most

active national branches of IKUE. Active IKUE sections were also established in Romania and Lithuania.

Today, both IKUE and KELI are characterised by continuity and stability. From 1961 to 2000 the German pastor

Adolf Burkhardt was president of KELI (apart from the years 1975-1981). In summer 2000 his post was taken

over by Jacques Tuinder (Netherlands). In IKUE the same office was filled from 1979 to 1995 by the Italian

priest Duilio Magnani from Rimini until he handed over to Antonio de Salvo. For the first time two IKUE

congresses were held in 1995 - the 48th congress in Olomouc (Czech Republic) and the 49th during the 11th

Ecumenical Esperanto Congress in Kaunas (Lithuania). In the same year IKUE was able to purchase its own

headquarters in Rome; it now serves as the association's office and the editorial department of "Espero

Katolika".

On the 10th of August 1996, during the 15th Catholic Esperanto Camp in Sebranice, young Catholics from

Belgium, Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary founded the IKUE youth group under the name

of "IKUE-Junularo" (IKUE Youth) or "IKUEJ". According to its constitution, its aims are:

To help young Esperantists find a path to God and Christian living

To advance international understanding and cooperation between young Catholics worldwide

To strengthen young Catholics in their faith

To popularise Esperanto among Catholics

The members of the association not only meet regularly during Catholic Esperanto Camps, IKUE congresses

and other Christian events but keep up lively exchanges by letter and e-mail with members in Africa and the

People's Republic of China.

4.5 The Attitudes of Popes and Bishops towards Esperanto

The previous chapter dealt chiefly with the involvement of priests and laity in support of Esperanto. We now turn

to the attitude of Church authorities to the Esperanto movement.

As early as 1931 the German "Lexicon of Theology and the Church" concluded its article on Esperanto with the

words: "The popes from Pius X onwards (and numerous cardinals and bishops) welcomed and supported the

Esperanto movement." And in fact in the 20th century all the popes in some degree took a favourable view of

the work of the Catholic Esperantists. Early in the 1930s a note appeared on the cover of "Espero Katolika":

"Honoured by the apostolic blessing of Pope Pius X, 27 June 1906 and by Pope Benedict XV, 20 August 1920

and Pope Pius XI, 11 October 1924." These and other blessings were also documented at the time in the

pages of "Espero Katolika".

Pope Pius X sent his blessing to "Espero Katolika" and the Catholic Esperantists every year from 1906 until his

death in 1914. In addition he spoke about Esperanto in some of his public audiences. On the 4th of April 1909

he told Isidoro Clé, an Esperantist who was director of an ecclesiastical institute in Brussels: "Esperanto has a

great future before it".

Other quotes exist which came to light only after the death of the pope concerned, and which reveal nothing

about the time and circumstances of the statement, giving reason to doubt their authenticity. These quotes, in a

number of variations, are frequently reprinted in Catholic publications and even more so by non-Catholic

Esperantists, for instance the following one attributed to Pius X: "I see in the Esperanto language a valuable

means for maintaining ties between Catholics throughout the world." While Saint Pius X's very friendly attitude

towards Esperanto leads one to suppose that this sentence does fully reflect his opinion, we can be less certain

about a quote which is said to have come from Pius XII: "In the future of civilisation I foresee Esperanto having a

position similar to Latin in the Middle Ages".

On the 19th of May 1964 Pope Paul VI received in audience some members of the IKUE Executive. According

to a report of the then President of IKUE, the Belgian priest Alfons Beckers, the Pope "showed a lively interest

in the Catholic Esperanto movement. He acknowledged the necessity and usefulness of Esperanto and

stressed that he wanted to support a language which enables mutual understanding between peoples, for the

advancement of harmony and peace."

The first statement by a pope about Esperanto to be documented by the Vatican newspaper "L' Osservatore

Romano" also comes from Paul VI. The 36th IKUE Congress was held in Rome in the Holy Year 1975. During a

general audience in St Peter's Square on the 13th of August 1975 Paul VI introduced the groups present:

"Another international group, about which I will say a special word of introduction shortly, is that of the

participants in the international congress of the Catholic Esperantists. See, they have the green flag which is a

symbol of hope, they are the Esperantists."

And he addressed the congress participants in the following words:

We do not wish to conclude this part of the audience without addressing our greetings and good

wishes to the participants in the 36th international congress of the Catholic Esperantists. To your

particular cultural goals you wished to add a most delicate religious note, entering into the spirit of

the Jubilee which speaks to all people of good will of renewal, of conversion, of rediscovered

contact with God, who loves and forgives. May this spirit guide you in the furtherance of fraternity

and mutual understanding among the various peoples of the world with different languages, whom

you strive to benefit according to your distinctive programme. That is our sincere wish, which we

enrich by our apostolic blessing for the gifts of the Lord.

Two years later the 37th IKUE Congress previously referred to took place in Czestochowa. Its Patron was Karol

Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II. In his greeting to the congress he wrote: "Just as Jesus Christ prayed for

unity among his disciples (Jn 17,11), in the same way I, in the name of the Church, pray for your intentions. May

one faith and one love help you to unite the shattered world in one flock under one Shepherd. And may one

transnational language - Esperanto - serve effectively that noble goal." Wojtyla accepted the invitation to

celebrate Mass in Esperanto by special permission of Paul VI, but at the last moment the funeral of the bishop

of Poznan, Antoni Baraniak, prevented him from coming.

After his election as Pope in 1978 nearly 13 years were to pass before John Paul II became the first pope to

speak publicly in Esperanto. It was during the 6th World Youth Day in Czestochowa, where, on the 14th of

August 1991, he addressed his greetings to more than one million young people there:

Mi donas ankaux en Esperanto bonvenan saluton al la junaj pilgrimantoj el la tuta mondo en cxi tiu

tago de universala frateco, kiu vidas nin unuigitajn kiel filojn de unu sama Patro en la nomo de

Kristo, vero de la homo.

[I also give a greeting of welcome in Esperanto to the young pilgrims from throughout the world on

this day of universal brotherhood, which sees us united as sons of the same Father in the name of

Christ, man's truth.]

The next day he again addressed his greetings in many languages to the youth in Czestochowa. In Esperanto

he said:

Karegaj junuloj! La sperto de kredo, travivita cxe la piedoj de la "Nigra Madono", restu neforigeble

gravurita en viaj koroj. Sanktega Maria akompanu vin!

[Dearest young people! May the experience of faith, lived at the feet of the "Black Madonna, remain

indelibly engraved in your hearts. Most Holy Mary go with you!]

Almost two years later, in the summer of 1993, John Paul II gave his apostolic blessing to the World Esperanto

Congress in Valencia:

The Holy Father sincerely greets the organisers and participants of the 78th Esperanto Congress

and encourages them to continue their most honourable efforts for a world in which understanding

and unity reign.

At the same time the Holy Father asks you to make this meeting of people from different countries,

cultures and denominations, who speak the same language, a witness of that brotherhood which

should reign without any form of discrimination among all human beings as members of the great

family of the children of God, and which encourages personal and collective compromise in order to

build peace in their respective homelands. With these sentiments and asking for God's protection

on the work of the congress and its participants, the Pope gives the desired apostolic blessing.

On the 3rd of April 1994 Pope John Paul II gave his Easter greeting before the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing in

Esperanto for the first time, wishing "Felicxan Paskon en Kristo resurektinta" ("a Happy Easter in Christ risen").

That was followed in the same year by the Christmas greeting: "Dibenitan Kristnaskon kaj prosperan novjaron"

("A blessed Christmas and a prosperous new year"). The Holy Father has repeated these greetings every year

since then.

From the 31st of August to the 7th of September 1997 the jubilee 50th IKUE Congress was held in Rome and

Rimini with the theme "Go therefore and make disciples of all peoples". During the general audience in St

Peter's Square on the 3rd of September 1997 John Paul II greeted the participants directly in Esperanto:

Mi gxojas bonvenigi la responsulojn de Internacia Katolika Unuigxo Esperantista, engagxitajn en sia

kvindeka kongreso. Karegaj, la temo de via renkonto reprenas la misian taskon konfiditan de Kristo

al sia Eklezio. Akceptu gxin malavare kun tiu spirito de universaleco, kiu estas cxe la bazo de la

lingvo, kiun vi kulturas.

[I am delighted to welcome those responsible for the International Catholic Esperanto Union,

engaged in their 50th congress. Dear ones, the theme of your meeting takes up again the

missionary task entrusted by Christ to his Church. Accept it generously with that spirit of universality

which is the basis of the language which you cultivate.]

The words of the Popes were not the only recognition the Catholic Esperanto movement received from the

Vatican. After the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) had decided to reform the liturgy, in 1966 Esperanto

received partial - and in July 1968, full - recognition as a liturgical language. On the 8th of November 1990 the

Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments approved the Mass texts in Esperanto. The

texts were prepared by a commission led by the Auxiliary bishop of Warsaw Wladyslaw Miziolek (1914-2000).

Since the summer of 1995 the "Missal and Readings for Sundays and Feast days" has been available in the

form of two volumes in high quality binding with a total of 904 pages.

On the 11th of January 1992 IKUE was recognised by a decree of the Pontifical Council for the Laity as an

international association of the faithful under canon law. In its decree, the Pontifical Council for the Laity

expresses appreciation of IKUE's aims as set out in its constitution as well as "the various activities carried out

by the Union in its programmes and services (Christian formation, publications and communication, charitable

and ecumenical activity)".

A form of recognition with practical importance for the Catholic Esperanto movement is the use of the language

by Vatican Radio. In the next chapter we will go into more detail about the broadcasts.

It is interesting to know if there have been any negative attitudes on the part of the Vatican towards Esperanto.

In fact we find some of signs of these in newspaper articles. For example the German Catholic News Agency

KNA reported on the 2nd of February 1995: "But there was at first an attitude of distrust towards Esperanto

within the Catholic Church. For instance its inventor was suspected of being among other things a Freemason."

And in an article about the publication of the Esperanto Missal in the German Catholic magazine "Christ in der

Gegenwart" of 24 September 1995 we read: "The Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship had first to

overcome considerable opposition - but finally permitted the Esperanto translation of the Roman Missal."

The Missal itself explains what kind of "considerable opposition" was involved. Its introductory pages reproduce

the document "Norms for the celebration of the Mass in Esperanto" of the 20th of March 1990 in Italian and

Esperanto. It contains a reference to the circular letter "Decem iam annos" of the 5th of June 1976 which

represented a setback for the Catholic Esperanto Movement. According to the letter, "the Esperanto language

does not of itself offer the qualities which would enable it to be considered a liturgical language and be used

ordinarily in the celebration of the liturgy, because it is not a language spoken by a people."

Concerning the "suspicion" that Zamenhof was a Freemason, it should first be said that the supposition is

"probably" not correct according to research by the French historian André Cherpillod in 1997; secondly that

Freemasonry certainly merits respect from the Catholic viewpoint; and thirdly that Esperanto is first and

foremost a language which is not tied to any specific world view.

Beside many popes, also Saint Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941) several times showed favour to Esperanto. In

1937 he encouraged students of the Franciscan seminary in Niepokalanów by the words: "The Immaculated

likes your participation in the Esperanto movement."

If we now turn to the attitude of bishops and cardinals towards Esperanto, we readily find hundreds of friendly

greetings on the occasion of Christian Esperanto events. When the IKUE congress is held in a country with a

strong Catholic Esperanto movement, such as the Czech Republic, Italy or Poland, it is now almost taken for

granted that one or several bishops will personally visit the congress to greet the participants, praise their work

and celebrate Mass with them. In some countries, such as the Czech Republic in 1991 and Slovakia in 1993,

the Bishops' Conference has recognised the local chapter of IKUE as an ecclesiastical organisation of

laypeople; in other countries - for example in Germany - such recognition has been granted at least in those

dioceses in which IKUE members are especially active.

Some countries have bishops who speak Esperanto and often celebrate Mass in that language. The bishop of

Eisenstadt (Austria), Dr Paul Iby, speaks the language and has been a member of IKUE for many years.

The Archbishop of Prague, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, mastered Esperanto when he was a student and as a young

priest assisted at Catholic Esperanto camps. In the IKUE Congress in Olomouc (Czech Republic) he

celebrated Mass in Esperanto. In his homily he stated:

When I am with the Esperantists I always feel not only the advantages of the language, but that it

brings about more than mutual understanding, it brings community, unity, communication. And at the

level of the Gospel, at the level of the Church, this means one very important thing, because it is not

only community but also the presence of Christ among mankind. Christ came to bring the presence

of God among people, because this is God's plan. This is paradise. And what you enjoy among

yourselves is a real reflection of this.

More frequently than Cardinal Vlk, Karel Otcenáek, the bishop of Hradec Králové, visits Esperanto events to

encourage the participants in their efforts for better understanding.

When expressing their views on Esperanto Church authorities very often acknowledge the contribution of this

language towards understanding among peoples and the bringing together of the faithful. On the question of

whether it would be worthwhile making concrete changes in the language policy of the Church and the world,

their attitude is more guarded.

Here, the Romanian bishop György Jakubinyi went one step further. Jakubinyi was born in 1946 in the

Romanian city of Sighetul Marmatiei whose population consisted of Romanians, Hungarians, Ukrainians and

Jews. In this multicultural environment reminiscent of Bialystok a century before, Jakubinyi learned Esperanto

when he was 13. Later he regularly taught Esperanto to his students while lecturing at the theological college in

Alba Iulia from 1972 to 1992.

In 1991 the First Special Synod for Europe was held in the Vatican. There Jakubinyi openly called for the

acceptance of Esperanto as a new ecclesiastical language. The German Catholic News Agency agency KNA

reported:

Vatican City. The political reversals in Europe have also changed the composition of the

simultaneous interpretation team at the venue of the Special Synod for Europe held on Thursday

last week in the Vatican: Latin - the Church's "mother tongue" - is no longer on offer, but replaced by

Russian. In this way the Secretary of the Bishops Synod recognises the fact that among the 200

participants at the assembly are several representatives from Russian-speaking regions.

The Romanian Auxiliary Bishop György Jakubinyi (Alba Iulia) also made a contribution on the

subject of language at the Synod. He proposed replacing Latin, which is not in such common use as

it once was, with the international language Esperanto. Latin, the bishop argued, is furthermore a

liturgical language only in the Western Church. To prevent "linguistic imperialism", by which big

nations try to force their language on small ones together with their culture and outlook, he believes

"an artificial international language" is needed behind which no nation stands.

In 1994 Jakubinyi became archbishop of a diocese with half a million Catholics, of whom 95% are Hungarians.

In October 1999 he addressed the Second European Synod concerning the Romanian Bishops' Conference

which "to a certain extent mirrors Europe" because of its diverse rites (Latin, Greek Catholic and Armenian)

and languages (Romanian, Hungarian, German). "I don't want to idealise our collaboration because there are

problems everywhere" he emphasized, and again proposed Esperanto as a solution to the language problem.

He has repeated his call on several occasions, for instance at the German Catholic Fairs in Dresden (1994)

and Hamburg (2000).

If ever someone truly listens to and considers his suggestion, the following words which the Polish Cardinal

Stefan Wyszinski spoke in 1974 to the then president of IKUE Duilio Magnani, could prove prophetic. "In the

Second Vatican Council Latin suffered a crisis ... At the next Council they will speak Esperanto."

5. How Christians put Esperanto to practical use

Christian Esperantists make use of their language in many ways. They take part in church services in Esperanto, they meet at the IKUE and KELI congresses, and they read the magazines "Espero Katolika" and "Dia Regno". Many Christian Esperantists correspond with one another, whether by postal mail or through the Internet. Many people are making their first contact with the Christian Esperanto movement on the Internet, so we begin with that.

5.1 The Internet

Pope John Paul II regards the new communications' media, such as the Internet, as a gift of the Holy Spirit for

the evangelisation of the world. Catholic and Protestant Esperantists also quickly accepted these new means of

communication. By using the Internet for correspondence, and by doing so in Esperanto, they facilitate contacts

with other countries in two ways.

The editorial offices of "Espero Katolika" and "Dia Regno" have had Internet connections since 1993. At

gatherings of Christian Esperantists many international friendships have been formed and these have

subsequently been further deepened by email correspondence. Such contacts are particularly frequent between

Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Germans and Italians.

In 1997 IKUE's local representative in Argentina, Daniel Cotarelo García, established an e-mail forum for

Catholic Esperantists. It has enabled Catholics all over the world to share their views on religious issues and

events. In time, Christians of other denominations joined too, so that it has become a forum for ecumenical

dialogue. That was apparent towards the end of 2000 for example, when an Evangelical Christian asked forum

members for their opinions on the "Dominus Iesus" declaration by Cardinal Ratzinger, which led to a spirited

exchange of views in a fraternal atmosphere despite all the differences.

Between 1996 and 2000 several hundred web pages were created in Esperanto with Christian content. Many

of them were the work of six Christian Esperantists from five countries. Attila Szép (Hungary) and Carlo

Sarandrea (Italy) composed IKUE's official website. Since 2000 it has used the easy-to-remember Internet

address www.ikue.org. In France, Philippe Cousson did the same for KELI, while the German priest Father

Bernhard Eichkorn put full information on the Internet about the Ecumenical Esperanto Congresses together

with a number of religious texts and the German-language magazine "Ecumenical Esperanto Forum". In the

U.S.A, Leland Bryant Ross, a Baptist lay preacher, is compiling a web hymnal with more than 350 Christian

Songs in Esperanto.

Another American, Stephen Kalb, is the author of the "Enciklopedio Kalblanda", a comprehensive Internet

encyclopedia, regularly updated, with many illustrations and internal and external links. As a Catholic he has

included in his encyclopedia numerous articles on religions, Jesus, Christian denominations, saints, prayers,

feastdays etc. He explains the fact that, although he is a native English-speaker he composes websites mainly

in Esperanto, by referring to the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Mt 7,12) -

"I want others to write their pages in a language that is easy for me to understand. Esperanto is easier to learn

than any national language."

From www.ikue.org or another site, one can now find a considerable amount of religious literature in Esperanto

on the Internet. Examples worth mentioning are a book by Piero Otaviano - "La Fundamentoj de Kristanismo"

("The Fundamentals of Christianity"), the booklet "Malgranda Ekumena Katekismo" ("Little Ecumenical

Catechism") by Heinz Schütte and above all, the entire Bible.

Esperanto not only enables fraternal dialogue between Christians from all over the world, but also between

members of all the world religions. Many web sites in Esperanto - e.g. on Buddhism and Islam - make it easy to

find these contacts.

5.2 Church Services

Surveys carried out in Britain in 1968 and Germany in 1992 showed that among members of Esperanto

organisations there were substantially more practising Christians than in the general population. According to

the 1992 survey of the members of the German Esperanto Association, 33.5 % belonged to the Lutheran

Church and 27 % were Catholics. That is slightly less than in the population as a whole; but on the other hand,

69.1 % and 87.9 % respectively practised their religion to the extent of "at least occasionally taking part in

religious gatherings (for example, church services )". These two figures are remarkably high, because

according to a 1987 survey of the general population in Germany (excluding the former East Germany), only 47

% of the Protestants and 73 % of the Catholics attend church at least occasionally.

Altogether, 49.3 % of the members of the German Esperanto Association identified as practising Christians, so

naturally many of the participants at Esperanto events like to attend church services in the International

Language. At the World Esperanto Congresses ecumenical church services are always part of the programme,

even if the congress is held in country whose government does not favour Christianity (for example Beijing in

1986 and Havana in 1990).

For the same reasons, religious services in Esperanto are also held at many smaller gatherings. The

organisers of these events are usually very willing to include church services in the programme, but it is not

always possible to find a pastor with the necessary fluency and time available to lead the service. At events for

young people in particular, some of those taking part solve this problem by organising a bilingual church service

in cooperation with the pastor of the nearest parish, with hymns in Esperanto and the homily read aloud in both

languages.

In several cities - especially in Poland, Italy, Germany and Britain - religious services in Esperanto are a regular

event. In London they have been held every month since 1912. In Germany, Catholic and Lutheran clergy offer

religious services in Esperanto in Speyer Cathedral (a Catholic Mass, every second month since autumn

1991), in Stuttgart (an ecumenical church service, almost every month since 1995) and also occasionally in

Freiburg Cathedral (from November 1996). Since 1990, church services in Esperanto have also been held

during Germany's annual Catholic Weeks and Church Weeks (Katholikentag, Kirchentag). At the Catholic

Weeks in Dresden (1994), Mainz (1998) and Hamburg (2000), Archbishop Jakubinyi from Romania celebrated

Mass in Esperanto.

Church services in Esperanto such as those in Speyer or Stuttgart are usually followed by a visit to a restaurant

or the local Esperanto club or by a group sightseeing tour of the city. It makes sense to offer church services to

visitors for several reasons: firstly, because they often attract other Esperantists who do not regularly practise

their faith; and secondly, because Christians from other countries who happen to be visiting the region are often

delighted that they can attend church services in a language they understand and can afterwards meet and get

to know German Christians. Furthermore, such services are in themselves a powerful symbol of the solidarity

with other Christians of all nationalities which continues even when no congress is being held.

5.3 Periodicals and books

Between ten and twenty Christian periodicals are regularly published in Esperanto - if a number of very modest

newsletters are included. "Espero Katolika" is published in Rome. It includes news about the worldwide

Catholic Church, reports on papal activities and messages, articles on those who have been recently beatified

and canonised, and on the history and current events of the Catholic Esperanto movement. It is the oldest

continuously-published magazine in Esperanto - appearing bimonthly with 30-40 pages of abundant and varied

content of the highest standard.

The Protestant counterpart of "Espero Katolika" is the KELI periodical "Dia regno". It too is published

bimonthly. Because KELI includes among its members Christians of many different denominations - mostly the

Reformed Churches, but also Orthodox and Catholics - its pages often feature lively ecumenical debates.

A member of IKUE or KELI may subscribe to the magazine of the other Association for half price. This

arrangement can help Christians to view current events from a new perspective. When Pope John Paul

canonised John Sarkander in 1995, Catholic Esperanto magazines joyfully proclaimed the news: "Our Saint

John Sarkander. Our model of faithfulness and courage." So Catholics were surprised to read an article in "Dia

Regno" with the grim heading: "A thorn in the ecumenical journey". The article quoted Pavel Smetana,

President of the Czech Ecumenical Council, as saying that John Sarkander "had neither sympathy nor Christian

love for believers of other religions, whom he opposed".

Besides the IKUE and KELI magazines, the national branches of the two associations also publish many

newsletters, for instance "Franca Katolika Esperantisto", "La Ponteto" (the newsletter of KELI's members in

France), "Kristana Alvoko" (British KELI members), and "Frateco" (Polish Catholics). Several magazines

published mainly in national languages also deserve mention, such as "Katolika Sento" (Italy), "Kristliga

Esperantoförbundets Medlemsblad" (Sweden) and "Ökumenisches Esperanto-Forum" (Germany).

"Dio Benu" is the largest of the national associations' magazines, its abundant content reflecting the high level

of activity of IKUE's affiliate in the Czech Republic. From its pages it is clear that this association has very good

relations with bishops and cardinals - and furthermore that many young people are active members.

Besides numerous small newsletters, about 200 periodicals are regularly published in Esperanto. About 10

percent of them are primarily devoted to religious topics, which may also be true for the approximately 40,000

books and booklets in Esperanto which have been published to date. In addition to the Holy Bible, both the

Koran and the Bhagavad-Gita have appeared in Esperanto translations.

Many