Confession if someone is mute?

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@Tis_Bearself beat me to it on the first reference. You can also see:

Canon 990 No one is prohibited from confessing through an interpreter as long as abuses and scandals are avoided and without prejudice to the prescript of can. 983, §2.
 
I know there are many priests who know the sign language and probably this would be a face to face confession. As an EO I have done only face to face confessions and it’s not as hard as it sounds just to see the priest, see him frown etc.
 
Lots of Catholics will do face to face and look at the priest. If you do sign language anyway I presume you’re used to looking at the person you’re speaking with.
 
I realize modern tech is available to assist our fellow brothers and sisters with disabilities. My parish is wheel chair accessible and we have other modifications to meet the disability act. That being said we are a small parish with not a lot of money, I’ve never seen any tech in the confessional for this , not saying my Church doesn’t have it but being very involved I would figure I would know if we did. Not sure we could afford it either. Now I am not sure if an interpreter is allowed in the confessional as it is supposed to only be between the Confessor, Confessie(is that a word?) and God. I would think it would break the seal, I admit I could be wrong though. 🙂
 
Very cool, ok(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
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It is so accepted that Canon Law mentions that when an interpreter is used in Confession, the interpreter is bound by the seal.
 
If a mute person can hear the priest, no interpreter is necessary as long as the priest will read what the mute person writes on paper or electronically. If he is both mute and deaf, he and the priest both need access to paper or electronics. Many older people have gradually become deaf as they have aged and have never learned sign language, so could not benefit from the presence of an interpreter.
 
ioannes_pius said:
Yes, a list could be given to the priest. In that case, I think the Act of Contrition could be given in sign language.
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Since an Act of Contrition isn’t an absolutely required part of the sacrament, I would imagine that it could easily be skipped.
 
The person must express repentance. When I was a child, our pastor would do this by asking us children, “You’re sorry, aren’t you?” And we would say Yes. I presume the mute person could use sign language or type or express assent to a question about contrition by nodding, etc.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
The person must express repentance. When I was a child, our pastor would do this by asking us children, “You’re sorry, aren’t you?” And we would say Yes. I presume the mute person could use sign language or type or express assent to a question about contrition by nodding, etc.
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The person must have repentance, but there is no requirement that it be expressed explicitly during the confession. The fact that someone has come to confession and confessed their sins, especially if their demeanor shows humility, can be sufficient for the priest to judge contrition.

Of course, it is standard practice in the West to do this through an Act of Contrition, but this would not be a standard situation.
 
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I think in many cases, the person is behind a screen and so the priest cannot judge demeanor and will prompt the person to make an act of contrition. I have been asked to say it every time I confess for the last several years. Not sure if a priest would handle a mute person in a different manner.
Edited to add, one time the priest was in a hurry and told me to “say your Act of Contrition in the pew” afterwards.
 
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TheLittleLady said:
It is so accepted that Canon Law mentions that when an interpreter is used in Confession, the interpreter is bound by the seal.
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An app translating text to speech is NOT an “interpreter” (human being) but a machine. Machines are not people and thus are not bound by anything.
 
I think you misread; there was never an assertion that technology was an interpreter.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I think in many cases, the person is behind a screen and so the priest cannot judge demeanor and will prompt the person to make an act of contrition. I have been asked to say it every time I confess for the last several years. Not sure if a priest would handle a mute person in a different manner.
Edited to add, one time the priest was in a hurry and told me to “say your Act of Contrition in the pew” afterwards.
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This is a good point. I didn’t even think about Confession behind a screen as I have only been to Confession that way a handful of times and it isn’t important to me at all, but I know that some people feel very strongly about it.

An Act of Contrition isn’t standard in the Byzantine Rite and I once had an FSSP priest tell me it was mostly catechetical and for the benefit of the person saying it. If I can’t get to my Byzantine priest, I almost always confess to that FSSP priest, who always asks for it. He gives absolution while I’m praying it, so it isn’t as if he can hear the words anyway.

A deaf person using sign language or an interpreter would have to be seen by either the interpreter or the priest. I imagine in the case of a mute person, confession behind a screen would be next to impossible and the person would have to make some concession to the reality of the disability in order to confess.

I wonder if one of our priests would chime in with some insight. @edward_george1; @InThePew
 
Yeah, in the case of a mute person, since they aren’t basically required to be seen by the priest, the priest could probably tell by the demeanour of the person.
 
An answer from Father John Hardon:

http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Q_and_A/Q_and_A_020.htm
Q. How does someone who is mute or deaf go to Confession? — Anonymous

A. A mute or deaf person can go to confession in various ways. If he knows sign language, he can choose a confessor among priests who understand sign language. Or again a mute or deaf person can write out his sins, and either personally or through someone else ask the priest to read his written sins. Then the priest, in writing may give the penitent such spiritual assistance and assign the penance in accordance with the sins confessed. Or still again, penitents can ask someone whom they totally trust, and to whom they have confided their sins, to go to confession for them. Of course the priest must be first both informed and willing to cooperate. If the priest cooperates, the assistant to the penitent may confess for the penitent; but of course this assistant is absolutely bound by the seal of confession. Finally if the above options are simply not available, the person may receive absolution from a priest, provided two conditions are fulfilled: the penitent must really want to confess his sins, and secondly he will take the next opportunity to confess his sins by way of sign language, writing or through an assistant.
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