I had two semesters of Classical Latin, not hardly enough to be proficient or conversational, and certainly not fluent. I did fine grade wise, but personally, I didn’t really like studying the language. I don’t have anything against it, just didn’t like it very much.
On the other hand, I took five semesters of Greek because I really enjoyed it (only three were required).
But, I’ll reiterate what Fr. David said. Even if it were needed that every priest be fluent in Latin (it’s not, but let’s just say that it is), where would one fit it in a seminary schedule?
Just off the top of my head, a seminarian is expected to study, in four years: ecclesiology, Christology, Theological Anthropology, eschatology, homiletics, all seven sacraments and adequate practica courses for each sacrament, marriage counseling, Canon Law, sacred art and music, a little bit of psychology, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish (in most U.S. dioceses anyway), and all of your Biblical theology.
Speaking personally, in four years, I never studied most of the minor prophets, the Catholic letters, the Second Temple Judaic period (think Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 & 2 Maccabees), or even Acts (granted, Acts was supposed to be coved in Synoptic Gospels, but we just ran out of time). It wasn’t that the seminary didn’t want to offer courses in these parts of Scripture. It was just that there wasn’t enough time.
Now, that’s just the academic side of things, which, according to Pastores Dabo Vobis, is only one of four “pillars” of seminary formation. Spiritually, men are expected to pray a daily holy hour, attend Mass daily, pray their Office, the Rosary, Chaplet, have some other spiritual reading, etc. we meet regularly with a spiritual director and a formator. Under the pillar of pastoral formation, the average seminarian spends over four hours a week in a parish, or nursing home, or jail, or a school, or something, ministering to people in need.
Finally, priests must be able to relate with their parishioners. We have to be, in a word, “normal.” That means we need to spend time doing normal “guy” things. So, I would play a lot of basketball in the seminary, and I skied most weekends (a great benefit to going to seminary in Colorado). I liked going to the orchestra and enjoying a nice meal with my brothers at a local restaurant. If given the choice between playing basketball and breaking open my Latin textbook, I’m choosing basketball every single time.
FWIW, I think that has served me well. In my first pastoral assignment, I’m in a Catholic high school. I’ve already joined my students for two pick-up basketball games, which led to conversations about the faith, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a vocation or two comes out of it. I can’t say I’ve had any students come up to me and ask me to tutor them in Latin.
Now, I don’t mean that as a knock on the Latin language at all. I love Latin, and I love the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite celebrated beautifully in both Latin and the vernacular (I’m not trained in the Extraordinary Form, but I wouldn’t be opposed to learning it). But, I really see no need to read the documents of Vatican II in Latin when the Church and Austin Flannery have already provided a perfectly good translation.
