DUSHANBE (UCAN) -- Russian may be the common language for most Catholics of St. Joseph Parish in the Tajik capital, but Latin is the language they use every Sunday for prayers such as the Gloria and the Apostle's Creed.

For about five years, the Argentine Incarnate Word priests in this parish with about 100 regular Massgoers have been introducing Latin prayers and hymns as a prelude to eventually holding a full Latin Mass.

"The Holy Mass in Latin is one of the brilliant things our Church has, and we don't have to forget it," Father Carlos Avila told UCA News.

"All the original values and beauty of the liturgy are in it, because it was the basis for the translations into other languages," explained the priest, head of the sui iuris (self-governing) mission in Tajikistan.

The Church uses Russian for Mass and all other religious ceremonies, a legacy of Soviet rule. The country gained independence in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Father Avila pointed out there is no authoritative Russian translation of the missal.

"I don't mean Russian is a bad language for it," he said. "I just want to say that such a stage is normal for a new language in the Church, and it is obvious that Russian is much younger (as regards liturgical use) than, for example, English, Spanish or Italian."

The missioner noted that Pope Benedict XVI has affirmed the value of the Latin liturgy. A decree the pope issued in July 2007 allows Catholic priests to use the pre-Vatican II liturgy and rituals to celebrate Mass and administer the sacraments as "an extraordinary form of the Roman Rite."

Four native Spanish-speaking priests of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, founded in Argentina in 1984, oversee the Tajik Church, which originally used German as its official language.

Germans deported here from Russia's Volga River region by Soviet leader Josef Stalin in the middle of the 20th century established the local Church. However, virtually all German Catholics left Tajikistan following independence and the start of the 1992-94 civil war. Most of the 250 Catholics today speak Russian, so church services use that language.

"We don't want to convert all the Masses from Russian to Latin," Father Avila clarified. "The language of the prayer should always be close and understandable for people. It would be just great if we could have at least one Latin Mass in the future."

Celebrating a Latin Mass properly demands special skills from priests and parishioners, he observed. "And all the priests working in Tajikistan were born after the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and have not celebrated a Latin Mass, so we have to learn a lot."

Father Ezequiel Ayala, the St. Joseph parish priest, confirmed this. "I've never had the experience of celebrating a full Latin Mass, with all the traditions, but I really would like to do it," he said.

Naturally it would be difficult for people to pray the whole Mass in a language they cannot understand, he continued, so the priests will have to explain what each prayer means and give its local equivalent.

"If they learn Mass in Latin, they will be able to participate in a (Latin) Mass in any country they want," Father Ayala said.

The priest added that using Latin for the Gloria and Apostle's Creed is familiarizing Catholics with the language.

The parish has issued a special prayer book that includes Latin prayers.

Vladimir Ermantraut, 25, admits he does not know all the Latin prayers by heart and always uses a book during Mass. But he wants to learn and become confident in this area. "Every Catholic should know at least one prayer in Latin," he remarked.

Choir member Ekaterina Gavrilova says Latin adds to the Mass and she likes to sing the Gloria in that language.

Valeri Guresov thinks there is no big difference. "The main thing is to pray sincerely, and it doesn't matter whether it is in Russian or in Latin," she told UCA News.

Russian Orthodox Church members make up about 3 percent of the 6.5 million population of Tajikistan. Almost all the rest of the people are Sunni Muslims.

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