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Tyuiop411
Guest
In about a month I may be going to Italy; and I was wondering if I have to go to confession is it necessary that the priest be able to understand me in order for the confession to be valid?
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Gene_Church
Guest
Wow! Great question. I am not certain. However, I would expect that the confessor would have to understand you. Otherwise, he would be unable to know when to forgive or to retain sins
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Mrs_Sally
Guest
You will very likely be able to find a priest who can understand English well enough to hear your confession. Do a search though, because this came up recently, and I remember the answer being that the priest does NOT have to speak the same language for a confession to be valid - especially in an emergency.
If you are concerned, this is probably a good reason to behave yourself while in Italy.
If you are concerned, this is probably a good reason to behave yourself while in Italy.
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lewevanhoop
Guest
In order for the priest to be able to grant absolution he must be able to know what sins he is absolving and be able to judge purpose of amendment…so yes the priest would need to understand English now that shouldn’t really be that difficult especially in Rome.
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George_Stegmeir
Guest
I was a Sailor for many years, and made aseveral confessions in different ports to non-English speaking priests who used a multi-language card listing the various sins and the number of times they were committed. I just pointed out what I did and said the Act of Contrition in English. Of course, this was back in the days when Latin was the norm for the Sacrements. I’m sure there is some sort of similar accomodation today in Europe.
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marlap2
Guest
And I’m guessing you need to know the language well enough to understand what the Penance would be…
And if you understand the language well enough to do that, well…
And if you understand the language well enough to do that, well…
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Bro_Justin
Guest
The priest has to understansd you for you to be forgiven;’ in essence, your confession would be invalid and illicit
Why not go to confession in the states prior to leaving? The Church’s teaching is once a year in case their are mortal sins.
It might quite be possible that you may find a priest who speaks English, but on the safe side, I would go in the states prior to leaving.
God bless you now.
Brother Justin, OP
Why not go to confession in the states prior to leaving? The Church’s teaching is once a year in case their are mortal sins.
It might quite be possible that you may find a priest who speaks English, but on the safe side, I would go in the states prior to leaving.
God bless you now.
Brother Justin, OP
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Tyuiop411
Guest
So I guess I would be better off learning at least some of the language for myself before I go just in case I can’t find a priest who speaks English.
However, on a side note. Would it be wrong if I were to tape the confession so that my mother (who speaks Italian fluently) could translate it later so that I would know what my penance is? I’m sorry if I seem overly concerned about this, but I’m a worrier and I like to know what to do ahead of time. Hopefully, I won’t have to go to confession while I’m there, but it never hurts to be prepared.
However, on a side note. Would it be wrong if I were to tape the confession so that my mother (who speaks Italian fluently) could translate it later so that I would know what my penance is? I’m sorry if I seem overly concerned about this, but I’m a worrier and I like to know what to do ahead of time. Hopefully, I won’t have to go to confession while I’m there, but it never hurts to be prepared.
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Joan_M
Guest
Yes! It would be wrong! Your mother would then be privy to what your sins were!!
You are going ti Italy and you don’t know the language. First of all, it may depend on where you will be in Italy, but if you are in any of the cities that get a lot of tourists and pilgrims, (like Rome, Florence, Assisi, etc.) you are going to find a lot of churches and many of the big ones have lots of confessionals. You are likely to find signs outside the confessionals that state the language(s) understood by the priest in them. You are very likely to find a priest who understands English.
If you don’t, you could do what I did in a Latin American country. I do know a little Spanish, but not enough to have been able to confess in that language easily. However, I had a Spanish dictionary with me, and I looked up the words for what I wanted to say and wrote down what I needed. I then found a priest who was able to understand that I wanted to confess. I spoke to him as best I could in Spanish, and also pointed out to him the names of the specific sins. No problem. He absolved me and indicated my penance by holding up fingers and saying “Ave Maria”… so I knew how many Hail Mary’s I needed to say.
I’m sure you will be fine - just take a phrase book and a dictionary with you.
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Digitonomy
Guest
While I think using a tape recorder would be inappropriate and unnecessary, the reason would not be that your mother would know your sins. There is nothing wrong, for instance, in bringing a translator to the confession. And I don’t think there is any rule excluding mothers from being translators in such cases.
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Tyuiop411
Guest
I really wouldn’t want to have to bring a tape recorder in, but I was just proposing a what if situation. I wasn’t aware if the seal of confession worked both ways so I didn’t know if it was permissible or not for me to record the confession then willingly divulge what I confessed to my mother or another person acting as a translator.
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powerlinemom
Guest
I just went through RCIA so I could be confirmed, and my priest (who is also a canon lawyer) said during the class on confession that if you are in the situation where the only priest you can find to hear your confession doesn’t speak your language, you can still go and have a valid confession and absolution. It would be better to try to find a priest who shares a common language with you, but it wasn’t absolutely necessary.
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thistle
Guest
That is absolutely NOT allowed.
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Digitonomy
Guest
A translator at confession is bound by the seal. You, on the other hand, are free to share your sins with whomever you please. That said, I still find the tape recorder quite inappropriate, though I’m not aware of any specific rule against it. thistle, meanwhile, apparently is aware of a rule, so hopefully he can educate us.
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thistle
Guest
Its not rocket science. The penitent can run around after Confession and tell whatever to whoever (albeit that is pretty stupid) but what the priest actually says in Confession stays there. Its one thing a penitent saying the priest said this or that (hearsay) but it is quite a different story recording the priest’s actual words.
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Joan_M
Guest
Exactly. And if the person then shares this with another person, since it would be the actual confession, that person would be bound by the seal. If the person it was shared with was their mother, even worse!! I certainly cannot imagine sharing my confession with my mother, no matter what the reason, just as I cannot imagine my mother sharing her confession with me. A translator is one thing (and that person would be bound by the seal), but my mother? No way!!
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dans0622
Guest
Regarding the recording of a confession: such an action can result in an automatic excommunication, as stated in a decree of the CDF, from 1988: “…whoever, by any technical instrument records or publishes in the mass media what was said in sacramental confession by the confessor or penitent, real or feigned, by himself or by another person, incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.”
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19880923_scomunica-confessioni_lt.html (This is the Latin. I don’t know of any online, English translation.)
Dan
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19880923_scomunica-confessioni_lt.html (This is the Latin. I don’t know of any online, English translation.)
Dan
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Digitonomy
Guest
Excellent. That was exactly what I was looking for.
I notice that by that fairly broad wording, members here who publish accounts of their confessions in thread posts could also fall under that rule.
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Tyuiop411
Guest
Thank you for giving me a concrete answer to my question. So I’ll be sure to find a priest that speaks English or struggle through with a phrase book and dictionary. I have a passable skill in Latin and German so perhaps I’ll be able to find an old priest that speaks Latin or a German one.
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