Laudes Reggiae

Beloved by every stripe of churchfolk -- not to mention Rome's downtrodden (with whom, admittedly, he's sometimes been confused) -- the famous (and famously colorful) Latin Secretary to four Popes, Discalced Carmelite Fr Reginald Foster, beamed a message the other day to his global base of fans and alums from his hometown of Milwaukee, where he's recovering following some very close calls over the last year.

Without any further ado, Reggiemagne:



Best known for his weekly appearances as Vatican Radio's "Latin Lover" and years of teaching free courses (with tours) for anyone willing to take up the language, Foster's duties at the Secretariat of State's Latin Desk have been entrusted pro tem to Fr Dan Gallagher, 40, a priest of Michigan's Gaylord diocese who's been stationed at Stato's English bureau since 2007.

That said, though, once praised for how he "speaks like a monument," perhaps the greatest proof of Reggie's indispensability wasn't that the Latin translation of Caritas in Veritate was delayed for his Stateside editing, but that he smuggled Bill Maher into the Vatican, went on-camera with the controversial comic outside... and for it all, still emerged intact.

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