Translation Café: “Key Religious Terms in Papal Tweets: A Trilingual Analysis (Italian, English, Arabic) from an Interfaith Perspective”
Tuesday, 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM Nov 04th 2025
a presentation by Mennatallah Mansi
The Pope tweets in nine languages sharing his prayers, thoughts and opinions in different occasions with diverse online communities. Papal communication on Twitter is presented as a form of interaction and encounter, rooted in the Catholic faith, that engages with the diverse traditions and cultures of the world, with the aim of fostering understanding, peace, and coexistence. Looking at a trilingual corpus of Pope Francis tweets (2013-2024), we will discuss key religious terms in three different languages Italian, English and Arabic. We will also tackle how interfaith dialogue can be a suitable framework for investigating the usage and trans-mediation of these terms in the trilingual tweet corpus. The discussion examines the representation of interfaith dialogue through linguistic, discursive, and translational lenses. It investigates where the religious identity is celebrated and where other voices are included.