Confessing in non-native language

[Butaperson]

So this is probably a stupid question. But it’s very simply like this. Let’s say (hypothetically) that Spanish is my second language and I speak it well enough, but not nearly as well as I speak English. Because it’s my second language…I guess you could say that the words have somewhat less meaning to them in my head and it’s much easier to admit things in Spanish than in English. In addition, it feels much more anonymous simply because the Spanish-speaking world in general is farther away than the English-speaking one.

Would it be wrong to choose to confess in Spanish, even if English-speaking confessions were just as easily available?

I should reiterate that this is purely hypothetical and I don’t speak any Spanish at all. I do speak some French though (irrelevant since there are no French-speaking confessions probably within a 500-mile radius or more), and I have noticed that when I speak with my friends in French, I feel like I’m able to discuss some subjects that I would never even consider bringing up in English. Maybe it’s because I can feel confident that nobody is evesdropping, maybe it’s because when I speak French, the words just feel more removed from my mind. But it alleviates so much of the social anxiety that I would normally feel in discussing such awkward or delicate subjects.

So in thinking about this, I was wondering if this would be an option, maybe for people who suffer from serious anxiety in the confessional and can’t confess as often as they need to, or other conditions that could be eased by such a thing as a non-native language.

 

[Cricket2]

So this is probably a stupid question. But it’s very simply like this. Let’s say (hypothetically) that Spanish is my second language and I speak it well enough, but not nearly as well as I speak English. Because it’s my second language…I guess you could say that the words have somewhat less meaning to them in my head and it’s much easier to admit things in Spanish than in English. In addition, it feels much more anonymous simply because the Spanish-speaking world in general is farther away than the English-speaking one.

Would it be wrong to choose to confess in Spanish, even if English-speaking confessions were just as easily available?

I should reiterate that this is purely hypothetical and I don’t speak any Spanish at all. I do speak some French though (irrelevant since there are no French-speaking confessions probably within a 500-mile radius or more), and I have noticed that when I speak with my friends in French, I feel like I’m able to discuss some subjects that I would never even consider bringing up in English. Maybe it’s because I can feel confident that nobody is evesdropping, maybe it’s because when I speak French, the words just feel more removed from my mind. But it alleviates so much of the social anxiety that I would normally feel in discussing such awkward or delicate subjects.

So in thinking about this, I was wondering if this would be an option, maybe for people who suffer from serious anxiety in the confessional and can’t confess as often as they need to, or other conditions that could be eased by such a thing as a non-native language.

Confession is confession. I worked with non-English speaking immigrants who could go to confession only in their language. There were no priests who spoke their language so they had no choice. I suppose it would not be problem.

 

[ClearWater]

So this is probably a stupid question. But it’s very simply like this. Let’s say (hypothetically) that Spanish is my second language and I speak it well enough, but not nearly as well as I speak English. Because it’s my second language…I guess you could say that the words have somewhat less meaning to them in my head and it’s much easier to admit things in Spanish than in English. In addition, it feels much more anonymous simply because the Spanish-speaking world in general is farther away than the English-speaking one.

Would it be wrong to choose to confess in Spanish, even if English-speaking confessions were just as easily available?

I should reiterate that this is purely hypothetical and I don’t speak any Spanish at all. I do speak some French though (irrelevant since there are no French-speaking confessions probably within a 500-mile radius or more), and I have noticed that when I speak with my friends in French, I feel like I’m able to discuss some subjects that I would never even consider bringing up in English. Maybe it’s because I can feel confident that nobody is evesdropping, maybe it’s because when I speak French, the words just feel more removed from my mind. But it alleviates so much of the social anxiety that I would normally feel in discussing such awkward or delicate subjects.

So in thinking about this, I was wondering if this would be an option, maybe for people who suffer from serious anxiety in the confessional and can’t confess as often as they need to, or other conditions that could be eased by such a thing as a non-native language.

You can confess in whatever language you like.

You can confess in Spanish just to hone your vocabulary if you like. There’s nothing wrong with that, to practice, or for whatever other reasons, to prepare for Latin America, or just to see how the other half lives.

I started off in something similar. I went to Spanish mass, in the US, and before I knew it, I was living in Latin America!