Catholic Mass and Homily Translation for Bilingual Parishes

Sermon Translate translates the homily and the readings at Mass as they are spoken, and shows them as captions on a screen or on parishioners' own phones. It serves parishes that celebrate in English with Spanish, Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean or Portuguese speaking families in the pews, and the reverse.

The parts of the Mass that translate best

The homily and the readings are spoken by one person at the ambo, which is the situation live translation handles best. Announcements and the prayers of the faithful, read by one voice, translate well too. The prayers the congregation says together, and the parts that are sung or chanted, are better printed in a booklet or projected in each language, because many voices at once and sung words are hard for any speech recognition.

  • Homily: live captions in each reading language
  • Readings: named passages open in the listener's chosen Bible edition
  • Common prayers and sung parts: print or project them in advance

What works in each language today

Taken from the app's own language settings, so it matches what the app does now. Verse popups can show Bible text in English, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Farsi / Persian, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

  • Spanish: can be preached in and read; Bible book names and church vocabulary built in; verse popups show Spanish Bible text.
  • Vietnamese: can be preached in and read; Bible book names and church vocabulary built in; verse popups show Vietnamese Bible text.
  • Filipino / Tagalog: can be preached in and read; no built-in church vocabulary yet; no verse popup text in this language yet.
  • Korean: can be preached in and read; Bible book names and church vocabulary built in; verse popups show Korean Bible text.
  • Brazilian Portuguese: can be preached in and read; Bible book names and church vocabulary built in; verse popups show Brazilian Portuguese Bible text.

A bilingual Mass without a second celebrant

Many parishes already alternate languages between readings, or celebrate a separate Mass for each language community. Live captions let a priest preach the homily once while the other language group reads it on the screen or on their phones, so a single bilingual Mass can serve families who worship together. Each reading language uses plan time of its own: two reading languages during a one hour service use two hours of the plan.

Names and words a parish uses

Add the names of your priests, deacons, parish ministries and patron saints to the church glossary, and the terms your parish prefers, so they are translated the same way every week. The verse popups show the published text of the Bible edition each listener chooses rather than a machine translation of the reading.

How to set it up for a service

One laptop, tablet or phone near the pulpit does the work. Give it clean sound from the sound desk or a microphone close to the preacher, sign in, choose the language being preached and the reading language or languages your members need, and start. The room reads the captions on the projector through the Subtitles screen, online viewers see them in the livestream through the OBS overlay, and members who prefer their own phone scan a QR code with the QR Code Join add-on ($10 a month) and read with no account.

  • Before the service: add names, ministries and church terms to the glossary, and choose a Bible version for verse popups
  • During the service: keep the device on power and online; captions follow the preaching sentence by sentence
  • After the service: the transcript is saved to the account, and the Standard plan turns it into AI sermon notes

Can the homily be translated live during Mass?

Yes. The homily is translated as the priest or deacon speaks and appears as captions on a screen or on parishioners' phones.

Can the whole Mass be translated?

The spoken parts by one voice translate well. Prayers said together and sung or chanted parts are better printed or projected in each language.

Do parishioners need to download an app?

No. With the QR Code Join add-on ($10 a month) they scan a code and read in the browser without an account.

What does it cost to run this every Sunday?

Every account gets 1 free hour every month of live translation, enough to test a full service. Basic is $19.99 a month for 12 hours and Standard is $34 a month for 30 hours. Each reading language uses plan time of its own: two reading languages during a one hour service use two hours of the plan.