Remembering a Devoted Latinist

Reginald Foster, OCD, the celebrated Latinist who died in December, committed one act of civil disobedience in the course of his duties for the Vatican. Tasked with making the official Latin version of a text written in Italian or Polish by Pope John Paul II, Reggie came across a phrase referring to Latin as a "dead" language. He just couldn't bring himself to translate that. So he successfully proposed substituting the adjective "ancient" instead.