ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP
Pope Francis caused hilarity on social media with a potentially confusing tweet urging people to “practice ejaculation”…
VATICAN – A 100% French controversy. This Friday, May 5, Pope Francis’ Twitter account involuntarily aroused laughter and incomprehension among the French-speaking users of the social network, calling on the faithful to practice “ejaculatory”, those short, spontaneous and intense prayers .
“If you don’t have much time to pray, you can benefit from a wise spiritual practice called ejaculation prayers, very short prayers that we can repeat many times during the day to stay ‘connected’ to the Lord,” the published one says in French Tweet from the @Pontifex_fr account with 1.8 million subscribers.
If you don’t have much time to pray, a wise spiritual practice called… https://t.co/Zs4LWTcNJy can help you
– Pope Francis (@Pontifex_fr)
The jaculatories – from the Latin “jaculor”, meaning to shoot, throw an arrow – are short and fervent prayers, according to the Le Robert dictionary. On the other side of the English Channel we speak more of “aspirations”.
avalanche of innuendos
“The ejaculations are on average in French, I’m not hiding them from you,” responded, for example, on Twitter a user identified as Renaud Denis. Another jokes with a papal pun: “Two ejaculations a day is good for the prospape…”.
@Pontifex_fr The ejaculations are on average in French, I won’t hide it from you 🙂
— Renaud Denis (@RenaudDenis)
@Pontifex_fr Two ejaculations a day is good for prospape….
– Franky 🍾🍾🍾 (@Francky891965)
The confusion with another term of the French language has therefore inspired netizens and redoubled their efforts to poke fun at this practice highlighted by the Holy Father on Twitter. Sometimes well helped by pretty impressive emojis.
@Pontifex_fr But don’t abuse it too much either, it seems that it has made you deaf.
— Lisore (@VraieLisore)
@Pontifex_fr Thank you for your approval Your Holiness, I go immediately to connect with the Lord 💦😏
— Committee in support of Sergio Coma (@TeamSergioComa)
Some netizens suspected a hack into the Pontifex account, while others believed they saw a bad translation. Others rather rose up against this avalanche of reports, which were sometimes perceived as “terrifying”.
@Pontifex_fr @jbxrda I believe my Lord Pope has hacked his account through a cheat, something must be done.
— Bread Au Palpa (@machineMacarel)
@Pontifex_fr Appalling comments. An example of prayers of which the Pope speaks: – Lord, have mercy on us!
— SyBln (@sy_bln)
A question of translation
At the request of AFP, a Vatican source indicates that the Pope’s Twitter account is managed by the Dicastery (equivalent to a ministry for the Holy See) for communications.
“French is a simple translation” of the original tweet in Italian, said this source. As early as October 2022, Francis had mentioned these forms of meditation in Italian during a Sunday prayer for the Angelus.
Se non hai molto tempo per pregare, può aiutarti una pratica spirituale sapiente, quella delle giaculatorie, brevis… https://t.co/EITXPExa9C
– Father Francesco (@Pontifex_it)
The official French translation recalled “a learned spiritual practice that we have somewhat forgotten today and that our elders, especially grandmothers, know well: the so-called ejaculation”.
“The name is a bit dated, but the substance is good,” the text added.
A misunderstanding surrounding a translation of the Pope’s tweet that had already embarrassed the Vatican when the term “darling” was awkwardly used to translate the Latin term “blandiri”. The term “caress” was frowned upon at the time because of the many scandals of sexual violence against minors by clergy.
Petting an elderly person expresses the same hope as petting a child, because the beginning and end of life are… https://t.co/WtH3lWGZLc
– Pope Francis (@Pontifex_fr)
Senem blandiri eandem spem significat ac puerum blandiri, cum vitae initium et finis semper mysterium sint, mysteri… https://t.co/rtpDuDGZpl
– Papa Franciscus (@Pontifex_ln)
With the HuffPost, Claire Chauviré, professor of literature, had estimated that the most appropriate term would have been “pamper” or even “appreciate”.
See also on The HuffPost:
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