Since 1939, Popes have given 3 sorts of audiences.
My money is on the Pope!! (Click image for CA article.)
Special audiences are for Heads of State, ambassadors, etc.
Influential people like Rocky — Sylvester Stallone — can get a private audience.
Then, on Wednesday mornings the Pope gives a general audience [GA] to all who attend St. Peter’s Square. He does not say Mass but does deliver “an address” — a homily.
Hold that thought!
Click image or follow the link : https://www.vatican.va/various/prefettura/en/profilo_en.html
General Audience Addresses
Before we get to the question suggested by Nick Donnelly, readers should know that GA addresses are translated into a variety of languages and compiled under the Pope giving the address.
The first ‘general address’ I found was given by Pius XII on 26 April 1939. The world was in turmoil and WWII started that September.
Multiple translations became commonplace after Vatican II [Paul VI] and Pope Francis’ first general address was translated into 9 languages: Arabic, Croatian, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese & Spanish.
In comparison, the first address of the 6 other Popes since 1939 were translated as noted below:
Benedict XVI: Croatian, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish: 7 languages.
John Paul II: English, French, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish: 5 languages.
John Paul I: English, French, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish: 5 languages.
Paul VI: His first is not documented: the second on 18 Dec 1963, Italian & Spanish: 2 languages.
John XXIII: Italian & Spanish: 2 languages.
Pius XII: Italian only: 1 language.
HAS A TRANSLATION BEEN ERASED?
Below is the allegation made by Nick Donnelly on 𝕏 — formerly Twitter.
Click the image to follow link to 𝕏: formerly Twitter.
Donnelly prides himself as being 'one of Pope Francis's most ardent and outspoken critics' and implies that the missing translation/s is to remove St. JPII’s catechesis. (The Appendix below confirms that there is no English translation available for 10 September 1986.)
St. John Paul II’s ADDRESSES
St. John Paul II was Pope between 1978 - 2005. If you reference the Appendix you can see that an English translation was consistently available for his addresses from 1978 to mid-1980 and then onward from December 1996. (NB: only one page per year is appended.)
For the intervening ~16 years [mid-1980 to the end of 1996] I found only 3 English translations: 23 August 1989; 24 May 1989 & 9 July 2003. (Indeed, the only translation available for 9 July 2003 is English!)
Occam’s Razor: "The simplest explanation is usually the best one."
The simplest explanation — if improbable — is that no English translator was routinely available in the Vatican between 1980-1996. That said, Nick has shown that at least one English translation is missing.
I am hoping that there is still an innocent reason, such as the translation being removed because it was inaccurate from what was said. (Anyone wishing to read the addresses in English can use an on-line translation service / Google Translate.)
This issue merits a proper explanation. If someone has information, please DM me on 𝕏, or email the editor@catholicarena.com. CA will keep you updated!
Kevin Hay
You can follow Kevin on 𝕏 @kevinhay77
APPENDIX
Below are the first page of each year’s General Audiences — several years have 3 pages.
Please note that these are images and not Web Pages. Please go to the Vatican web site if you wish to read a specific address. https://www.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html Search for St. JPII’s audiences under “Supreme Pontiffs” at the bottom of the first page.
