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Discalced Carmelite Father Reginald Foster—a world-renowned teacher of Latin, former longtime Vatican Latinist and colorful character who intrigued students and journalists—died in Milwaukee Dec. 25. He was 81.
Father Michael Berry, the Wisconsin-based provincial of the Discalced Carmelites, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Father Foster had tested positive for Covid-19 in early December, and he expected the official cause of death to be complications from the coronavirus.
In a Latin-language message to the superior general of the Discalced Carmelites, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, conveyed Pope Francis’ gratitude for Father Foster’s contributions to the Church, as well as his condolences and prayers after Father Foster made his way “ad Patris domvm” (to the house of the Father).
Father Foster’s unusual method of throwing students straight into Latin texts, designed to help them love the language before memorizing grammatical rules, brought hundreds of students to his various classrooms, particularly at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.
Between classes, Father Foster was often seen on the university’s front steps wearing his blue workman’s uniform, purchased from JC Penney, and drinking a beer. Students and journalists would pass by for a chat.
The popularity of his classes, and Father Foster’s disregard for whether the students were enrolled and paying the university, led to tensions with the Gregorian administration. He was ousted in 2006 but found benefactors to help him open a free Latin academy in the city.
Born in Milwaukee, he entered the minor seminary at age 13. He entered the Discalced Carmelite novitiate in 1958 and professed his vows in 1959. Sent to Rome to study in the 1960s, he was ordained to the priesthood there in April 1966.
Father Foster was summoned to the Vatican in 1969 when word of his academic achievements in Latin spread.
Even as Latin declined as the common language of the Church, the Latin section has continued to translate and publish virtually everything that comes from the pen of the pope. Father Foster retired from his Vatican post in 2009 when his poor health forced his move back to the United States.
