The first Encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI was released today, thankfully with the typical Latin edition also available. In a very fast reading of three of the translations, I caught at least two serious mistranslations.
The first one is seen in the English-language translation (9):
The first one is seen in the English-language translation (9):
The Prophets, particularly Hosea and Ezekiel, described God's passion for his people using boldly erotic images.
But the Latin text does not say "erotic", it says love. Considering that the whole text is very technical in the uses of agape, eros, philia, and amor (love), the passage should have read "bold love images" or "boldly amorous images" ("audaces amatorias imagines").
The second one is seen in the Spanish-language translation (28):
El Estado no puede imponer la religión, pero tiene que garantizar su libertad y la paz entre los seguidores de las diversas religiones.
The English translation of this portion is correct ("The State may not impose religion"), while the Spanish words mean CANNOT (or also "must not"), a clear mistranslation of the Latin "non DEBET", which should have been translated as "no debe" ("may not" or "should not"). This grave mistranslation is also repeated in other languages, including Italian (should be "non deve"), French (should be "ne doit" or "ne doit pas"), and Portuguese.
Please, report any other mistranslation you may see in the comments below. Is it a case of bad translators? Do they translate from the Italian and only occasionally take a look at the Latin typical text?
