‘Veterum Sapientia’ to offer online classes starting in January
CHARLOTTE — An effort to promote the study and use of Latin among Catholics has been launched in the Diocese of Charlotte.
The Veterum Sapientia Institute will offer courses in Latin and Greek taught online by clergy and professors from the diocese and around the world, starting Jan. 11.
The new institute is the outgrowth of eight successful Latin conferences hosted in the Charlotte area since 2013, noted Father Jason Barone, who serves at parishes in Sapphire and Highlands and is one of the institute’s co-founders. Its name comes from St. John XXIII’s 1962 apostolic constitution that defended and promoted the study of Latin in seminaries.
A cleric who helped organize the annual Latin conferences, Father Barone said the new Veterum Sapientia Institute “hopes to assist in the long-delayed realization of the pope’s vision for the Church’s official language of Latin.”
Father Barone will serve as one of the Veterum Sapientia Institute’s directors and he will teach courses in liturgical theology for seminarians, priests and religious.
Also being offered to the general public are introductory classes in spoken Latin and spoken Greek, as well as in-depth courses in patristic and scholastic theology. Initial class offerings include St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, St. Augustine’s Commentary on the Gospel of John, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, and Orations of the Missal.
Courses are being taught by Dr. Nancy Llewellyn, one of the co-founders of the Veterum Sapientia Institute along with Dr. Eric Hewett. Llewellyn, an associate professor of Latin at Belmont Abbey College and Latin instructor at St. Joseph College Seminary, will serve as the institute’s vice president. Hewett, who teaches Latin and Greek at the seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in Bavaria, Germany, will serve as president.
Other faculty include Father Dylan Schrader of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Mo.; Dr. Daniel Gallagher of Cornell University; as well as instructors Dr. Jonathan Arrington, Dr. John Pepino and Dr. Alex Petkas.
The continuing importance of Latin to the Church was underscored by St. John XXIII in his 1962 apostolic constitution. “The employment of Latin has recently been contested in many quarters, and many are asking what the mind of the Apostolic See is in this matter,” the pope wrote. “We have therefore decided to issue the timely directives contained in this document, so as to ensure that the ancient and uninterrupted use of Latin be maintained and, where necessary, restored.”
The Church’s Latin heritage remains every Catholic’s birthright, Father Barone said, and the opportunity to learn the language should not be limited to a lucky few.
Priests, in particular, are still by statute expected to become fluent in Latin.
Father Barone said the Veterum Sapientia Institute is finalizing an agreement for accreditation and a “Diploma in Latin Letters” with the Pontifical Institute for Higher Latin at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome, which was tasked with fostering Latin in the Church by St. Paul VI in 1964.
Registration for Spring 2021 courses is now open. Online classes begin Monday, Jan. 11, and end by Friday, March 26.
In general, courses will meet online 10 times during an 11-week term, with classes lasting one hour. Longer-format courses will meet twice a week for 45 minutes each.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
For more info
At www.veterumsapientia.org: Learn more about the Veterum Sapientia Institute and register for online classes that will begin in January.
Pictured: Dr. Nancy Llewellyn, a co-founder and co-director of the newly formed Veterum Sapientia Institute, addresses those gathered Nov. 22 at the Allen Center at St. Ann Church in Charlotte to announce the institute’s launch. (Photo Provided by Markus Kuncoro)
CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte announced this week that personal information about some of its constituents was exposed in a data breach experienced by third-party vendor Blackbaud Inc., in May.
Blackbaud is an international provider of fundraising and financial software for education, charitable and nonprofit organizations – many of which were affected by the company’s data breach.
Blackbaud hosts a variety of databases for the diocese and several were exposed in the incident.
The diocese announced in August that limited personal information of donors had been exposed in Blackbaud’s data security incident. Details are outlined in an Aug. 28 letter posted on the diocesan website: www.charlottediocese.org. After further investigation, Blackbaud recently informed the diocese that information associated with additional constituents of the diocese was also affected, including that of some employees, vendors, parents and students, school alumni and supporters.
In most cases, the data exposed did not involve sensitive personal information, the diocese said, citing information from Blackbaud. However, information involving current and former employees and vendors contained in a database the diocese stopped using by 2005 did include sensitive details such as Social Security Numbers, Tax Identification Numbers or bank account information. The individuals affected have been contacted directly by the diocese with information about the breach as well as credit monitoring and fraud assistance services being offered to them by Blackbaud.
The diocese said it has no reason to believe the exposed information was misused or made available publicly, but encouraged constituents to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.
“We are continuing to scrutinize what happened and what steps Blackbaud has taken to guard against such a breach in the future,” said Monsignor Patrick Winslow, the diocese’s vicar general and chancellor. “While we recognize that such incidents are becoming a hallmark of the digital world in which we live, we have to be vigilant to stay a step ahead in cybersecurity.”
Blackbaud’s breach made headlines across the country and beyond in July and August when the company initially disclosed it had been the victim of a ransomware attack. The company said the attack went on for weeks before Blackbaud detected and stopped it in May.
Before the attacker was locked out of Blackbaud’s computer systems, the individual(s) removed a copy of backup files involving thousands of clients. Working with federal law enforcement, Blackbaud said it agreed to pay the ransom “with confirmation that the data was destroyed.”
Initially, Blackbaud assured clients that sensitive personal information had not been exposed because it had been encrypted. But after further investigation, Blackbaud disclosed in late September that some sensitive personal and financial information left behind in “legacy” files had not been encrypted. In October, Blackbaud provided details about which of the diocese’s constituents had been affected.
The diocese has notified those affected through letters, email or school newsletters, as well as through its website.
In addition to the information previously described, other information exposed included:
- Information in a 2019 database of families enrolled in Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools. The information dated back to 2008 and included parents’ names, addresses, contact information and in some cases students’ names and birth dates, and tuition information.
- Information in a 2016 database of alumni and donors to Charlotte Catholic High School. Dating back to 2002, the information included names, addresses, contact information, graduation dates and donor history.
For more information about the breach, please see Blackbaud’s explanation online. If you have additional questions, please call 704-370-3409. Read the Nov. 19, 2020 letter on the diocean website.
— Catholic News Herald