From Optatam Totius, Vatican II’s Decree on Priestly Training (emphasis added) …
13. Before beginning specifically ecclesiastical subjects, seminarians should be equipped with that humanistic and scientific training which young men in their own countries are wont to have as a foundation for higher studies. Moreover they are to acquire a knowledge of Latin which will enable them to understand and make use of the sources of so many sciences and of the documents of the Church. The study of the liturgical language proper to each rite should be considered necessary; a suitable knowledge of the languages of the Bible and of Tradition should be greatly encouraged.
When this was written the “liturgical language proper” to the Roman rite was Latin. If, as many progressive Catholics claim, the Fathers of Vatican II had meant for the Latin Mass to disappear, it would be difficult to understand why this paragraph reads as it does.
As something of a non sequitur, I once had a conversation with a DOR priest who had been in formation in Rome. He did, to his credit, study Latin. He went on to report that some of his classes involved accompanying the professor on a walking tour of the city during which the students translated the inscriptions they found on monuments, crypts and manhole covers. (I don’t, however, recall him saying all that much about Caesar, Cicero or Virgil.)
H/T: Jeffrey Pinyan
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How the Spirit of Vatican II crowd reads the Council’s documents:
13. Before beginning specifically ecclesiastical subjects, seminarians should be (NOT “MUST BE”) equipped with that humanistic and scientific training which young men in their own countries are wont to have as a foundation for higher studies. Moreover they are to acquire (NOT BE TAUGHT – THEY GOT TO DO IT ON THEIR OWN) a knowledge of Latin (NOT AN “IN DEPTH” KNOWLEDGE, JUST “a” KNOWLEDGE – THAT THERE ARE LATIN-ENGLISH DICTIONARIES SHOULD SUFFICE)which will enable them to understand (YOU CAN DO THAT WITH A DICTIONARY) and make use of the sources (PERHAPS USE THEM AS KINDLING?) of so many sciences and of the documents of the Church. The study of the liturgical language proper to each rite should be (AGAIN, IT NEED NOT BE) considered necessary; a suitable knowledge of the languages of the Bible and of Tradition should be (BUT, AGAIN, NEED NOT BE) greatly encouraged.
Jim,
Do you think they go to school to learn how to do that?
HA! Thanks Jim and Mike, your two pithy posts exemplify the maxim of St. GKC, who said regarding the exposition of Catholic Truth, and I’m only lamely paraphrasing, “I can write an essay, or I can tell a joke!”
The logic being, as in the Shema Ysroel, and applied so elegantly in Optatam Totius, we must always bring our whole being, mind, soul and strength, to the understanding and praise of God. And so, we must study and learn to the degree of our intelligence and strength, in order to live a holy life. And in the end, when we go to Heaven to see God, we shall laugh with joy. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we love you.