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PhrasesVisiting a ChurchDov'è il confessionale?
A2formal

Dov'è il confessionale?

Where is the confessional?

Pronunciation

doh-VEH eel kon-fes-syo-NA-leh.

When to use it

When a Catholic visitor wants to go to confession. Also useful for visitors curious about the confessional as an architectural element of Italian churches.

What it means

Il confessionale is the confessional — the wooden booth where the sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) takes place in Catholic churches. Many historic Italian confessionals are themselves works of art.

Variations

A che ora ci sono le confessioni?

What time are confessions?

Confessions are usually held at fixed times.

C'è un sacerdote che confessa in inglese?

Is there a priest who hears confession in English?

Important for English-speaking Catholics.

Questo confessionale è del Seicento?

Is this confessional from the seventeenth century?

The art-historical question about the confessional itself.

Mini Dialogue

— Dov'è il confessionale? — Sulla navata destra, vicino alla cappella laterale. — C'è un sacerdote in inglese? — Sì, il venerdì pomeriggio dalle tre alle cinque. — Grazie mille.

— Where is the confessional? — On the right nave, near the side chapel. — Is there a priest who hears confession in English? — Yes, on Friday afternoons from three to five. — Thank you very much.

Cultural Note

The Confessione di San Pietro beneath the main altar at St Peter's Basilica in Rome is a major pilgrimage destination — the spot directly above St Peter's tomb. It should not be confused with the confessionals (confessionali) where the sacrament of confession takes place, which line the basilica's perimeter.