Is it valid if the priest did not understand what I was saying entirely in confession?

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Mipal

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I was in confession, I confessed my sins and at the end the priest said, my english is not very good. I obviously assumed he was foreign and visiting, he did say that he did not entirely understand what i had said but that bc I confessed my sins to him openly and out loud to him and to God that I would be given absolution and he finished the sacrament. Am I forgiven?
 
I have made confessions before in very broken Polish, to priests who did not speak English. I did the best I could under the circumstances — I didn’t understand everything they said to me (I got the gist of it, but not the fine points), and I’m not sure they understood everything I said to them. It was no obstacle to absolution, and I was able to understand enough, to comprehend what penance I was assigned. (And yes, I did my penance in English.)

It’s not something I recommend, but sometimes a confession just cannot or should not wait. Sometimes you have to do the best you can, in the circumstances you are in at the moment.
 
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According to St Alpnonsus Ligouri, if the priest can understand some or at least one mortal sin, then your confession is valid.
 
You don’t always have to confess a mortal sin in order for your confession to be valid. You can confess only venial sins and still have your sins absolved. So I’m not sure what you mean by this.

-Fr ACEGC
 
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