Pope's Interpreter

Pope Francis in other words -- delivered by his British interpreter

Msgr. Mark Miles is the linguistic bridge between the Spanish-speaking Francis and his English-speaking audiences. He has accompanied the pope on other international trips and been at his side in some illustrious company, including President Obama, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Queen Elizabeth II.

Miles’ biggest challenge is keeping up with a boss who’s known for going off script. On a stop during a visit to the Philippines in January, Francis decided to rip up his prepared homily in favor of an impromptu address and gave his put-upon aide a shoutout: “I have a translator, a good translator!”

That papal penchant for off-the-cuff remarks has at times flummoxed not only Miles but the Holy See’s press office and the team of translators and interpreters whose job it is to render Francis’ utterances into several languages, including Italian, English, Spanish, French, German and Arabic.

The Vatican’s translations of those transcripts into other languages are usually marked “unofficial,” frustrating international reporters who cover the pope.

“Very often they miss the point. They miss the nuances,” veteran Vatican correspondent Robert Mickens said of the translations. “I don’t use them. I [do] my own translation .... The Vatican usually says ‘unofficial translation,’ because they don’t want to take responsibility for getting it wrong.”

 LA Times 

Vatican interpreter Msgr. Mark Miles, center, walks with Pope Francis and President Obama outside the White House in Washington on Sept. 23.

 (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)