Old and new Italian communities
Many British towns have Italian families whose grandparents came to open cafés, ice-cream parlours and restaurants, or to work in factories and on farms after the war. Their grandchildren speak English, but older relatives and family visiting from Italy are often more at home in Italian. A newer wave has followed: graduates, nurses, chefs and researchers in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin.
Italian Catholic missions serve some of them, with Mass in Italian. But most Italians go to the nearest parish, or do not go regularly at all and come for a baptism, a wedding or a funeral.
Parish life and family occasions
- Baptisms and First Communions. Nonna and nonno fly in for the day. With Italian on a phone they can follow the homily as well as the familiar prayers.
- Weddings. A British-Italian couple with a front row of relatives from Italy. Switch on Italian for that service. See weddings, baptisms and funerals.
- Funerals. When an elderly member of an Italian family dies, relatives come from Italy to say goodbye and want to understand what is said.
- Students and young workers who join an Anglican or evangelical church and want to follow the teaching properly, not just get the gist.
English-speaking churches in Italy
Turn it round and the same tool serves Anglican chaplaincies and international churches in Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice. They serve English-speaking residents, students and visitors, and they have Italian spouses, neighbours and friends in the pews. Offering Italian at Christmas, at weddings and on ordinary Sundays tells the city around them that they are welcome too.
How listeners use it
- 01Scan
The QR code is on the screen, the newsletter or the back of the order of service. It opens in the browser.
- 02Choose Italiano
No account and no app. A younger family member can set it up for an older relative before Mass begins.
- 03Listen or read
The Italian voice follows the priest or pastor a few seconds behind, with captions on screen. There is a large-text mode for those who find small print hard.
What to expect
The translation is into standard Italian. Most Italian Catholics know the fixed parts of the Mass by heart, so the homily, readings and notices are where translation helps most. Liturgical vocabulary and Bible names are the hardest part, and ChurchTranslate keeps a terminology list per language to correct known terms in the captions. It will not always choose the word an Italian priest would use. More in Bible names and terms.
Cost
An hour-long funeral Mass into Italian uses 60 credits, whether three relatives listen or thirty. For a few family occasions a year, an extra credit pack (300 credits for €50, never expires) is often enough. See the pricing.