We are Poles, so, of course, we print in Latin

Oh I've been to Tridentine masses. I'm a church organist. I literally "play" a part in liturgies.

I don't really see that much of a difference to be honest. A lot of people make a big fuss out of the details but the shape of the liturgy as a whole is practically the same.

> You should find a church that does it near you, it's really incredible and quite unlike what you're used to if you've only ever experienced the modern mass.

Flying through the air is a remarkable thing, and people used to dress up for it. But as prices dropped it has become (in many parts of the world) the equivalent of a bus service, and people dress the same was for a flight as they do as going to (say) Walmart.

If you do something often enough it can stop being special:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill

Audentes fortuna iuvat!

Classical greek and modern greek are quite different

In Spain both are still taught in the standard high-school curriculum.

Not everyone takes those classes of course, but Latin is one of the core optatives in the humanities path, it can be chosen in the university entrance exam as one of the core tests, and many students do pick it.

It's not really taught as a foreign language though, it is used to teach fundamental concepts in linguistic analysis and translation, and it can be a legitimately valuable foundation to have a strong general literacy across romance languages.

I'm not sure how common it is elsewhere, but Roman law also makes up a non-trivial fraction of the compulsory curriculum in the first years of studying law at university. Most of the concepts are still relevant, it's what all modern legal systems are founded on.

I remember that a good friend of mine somehow avoided studying maths for the last four years of high-school by choosing all the alternatives, which included both Latin and ancient Greek. He was and still is a fantastic programmer despite hating maths though, obsessed with Linux distros from early teens.

Probably not. They were not learning it for funsies, but because it was the business language. English took its place now. If English goes away, it will be replaced by a language by another dominant business power.

What's colloquially called the Latin Mass is the Tridentine Mass, which among other things uses a different calendar, including different biblical readings each week (a smaller selection of biblical passages than the Novus Ordo uses). So it's not just a variation of the Novus Ordo, though the Novus Ordo could be performed in a way that satisfies the vast majority of traditional-minded parishioners. It's exasperating because certain ideologues behind the movement are elevating small changes into pseudo-doctrinal issues that have a tendency to lead to schism. The Orthodox churches have fractured over the centuries over calendar related issues, for example. It's fundamentally traditionalism for traditionalism's sake, which is a little ironic because in many respects the Novus Ordo reverts the mass to an older form more similar to the practices of the church over a millennia ago, as well as more similar in some respects to Orthodox masses.

If the Latin Mass advocates were serious, they'd engage with the Novus Ordo. For example, seek more uniformity--the Novus Ordo has too many optional variations, which means the mass might have different prayers in one geographic area than another, whereas the Tridentine Mass is more uniform. (See, e.g., https://lms.org.uk/missals) The fact they don't betrays some of the underlying motivations and dynamics.

Another aspect mostly unrelated to the mass itself was the Second Vatican Council deemphasisizing the role of clerics and religious--nuns, religious sisters, etc. That's a whole 'nother thing, but it's a significant factor behind the movement. It's far more understandable, but again can be addressed directly, without the subterfuge.

All institutional religions struggle with the tension between traditionalists and reformers; it's a form of politics. What has made the Roman Catholic church almost singularly unique has been it's ability to hold together so many people across diverse cultures and geographies. What's playing out now has played out many times before, though obviously the Roman Church has not always been successful at avoiding schism. Notably, though, it continues to keep in mind undoing previous schisms, and some choices made by the Second Vatican Council were focused on reconciliation, both with Protestant but also Orthodox churches. For example, the change in biblical readings seems to have been aimed at Protestantism--the readings in the US are coordinated through a group that includes representatives from, IIRC, Methodists and Episcopalians. Being less doctrinaire about some of the prayers in the Tridentine Mass was a way to affirm the validity of Orthodox rites.

Both priests are assumed to understand Latin. The situation they want to avoid is starting up a conversation with someone in a language they don't know.

So the options are:

1) Use Polish, with the risk of being rude if you happen to speak to the Spanish priest

2) Use Latin and ask "do you speak Polish?", and both the Polish and the Spanish priest will understand.

You could of course argue that it's not so very rude to accidentally try to strike up a conversation with someone in a language they don't know, but apparently Tade0's father thinks it is.

because the assumption is that he wanted the child baptized by a Polish priest.

Could it be he just wanted the child baptized, no matter if it was Spanish or Polish priest? Then, starting with Latin is the way to get a priest's attention.

You get this when you were there, so you could have asked then. I fail to see your problem. You are lumping in potentially valid problem with subject expert using subject terminology. If you want to know what the doctors write in doctor to doctor communication, ask them, lookup in a book, learn it yourself or now-a-days just search it on the internet. I don't know what subject you work in, hence I don't want to give an example, but I bet your clients/costumers also don't understand every term, that you happen to use. That's ok, that's why they are paying you. If understanding a subject wouldn't need effort you wouldn't need to pay anyone, you would just do it yourself.