Article
Do Catholics Believe in Speaking in Tongues?
The Catechism calls charisms graces of the Holy Spirit, to be received with gratitude and tested by the Church’s shepherds. It does not require every Catholic to speak in tongues.
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Catholics may receive speaking in tongues as a charism, and the Catechism does not require it of every believer. Catechism 799 (1) calls charisms graces of the Holy Spirit for the building up of the Church. Catechism 801 (1) says every charism is submitted to the Church’s shepherds. What Does the Bible Say About Speaking in Tongues? quotes Acts 2, 1 Corinthians 12–14, and the 2016 letter Iuvenescit Ecclesia.
Key Points
- Catechism 799 (1): charisms, “whether extraordinary or simple and humble,” are graces of the Holy Spirit ordered to the building up of the Church, the good of men, and the needs of the world.
- Catechism 800 (1) says charisms are accepted with gratitude when they are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in charity. Catechism 801 (1) says no charism is exempt from the Church’s shepherds, whose office is “not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good.”
- Acts 2:4–11Acts 2:4–11 · King James Version2:4
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
2:5And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
2:6Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
2:7And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
2:8And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
2:9Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
2:10Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
2:11Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
Acts 2:4–11 · King James VersionOpen source (3) says the crowd heard the disciples speak in the languages of the hearers. 1 Corinthians 14:27–281 Corinthians 14:27–28 · King James Version14:27If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
14:28But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
1 Corinthians 14:27–28 · King James VersionOpen source (4) limits public tongues to two or three, in turn, with an interpreter, or else silence in the church. - Iuvenescit Ecclesia (2), quoted on the tongues page, says speaking in tongues, in the respect Paul discusses, is different from the gift of prophecy, and that Paul does not reject glossolalia. The letter is not the Catechism.
- The Greek word is γλῶσσα (glōssa, G1100), “tongue,” the word behind “tongues” in those chapters. Is the Holy Spirit God? is the Nicene confession that the Spirit who gives the gifts is God.
What the Catechism Calls a Charism
Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.
Catechism 800 (1) says the person who receives a charism, and all the members of the Church, accept it with gratitude, provided it really is a gift of the Holy Spirit and is used “in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms.” Catechism 801 (1) says discernment is always necessary, and that no charism is exempt from the shepherds. The paragraph quotes the charge to test all things and hold fast to what is good, so that the charisms work together “for the common good.”
Those paragraphs do not print the phrase “speaking in tongues.” They name the class the Church puts that speech in when it treats it as a charism. The 2016 letter is the Vatican text that names tongues. What Does the Bible Say About Speaking in Tongues? quotes it. This page does not copy that block.
Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 14
Acts 2:4Acts 2:4 · King James VersionAnd they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:4 · King James VersionOpen source (3) says they were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:8Acts 2:8 · King James VersionAnd how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Acts 2:8 · King James VersionOpen source asks how each hearer hears in the tongue in which he was born. Acts 2:11Acts 2:11 · King James VersionCretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
Acts 2:11 · King James VersionOpen source says they hear the wonderful works of God. The narrative’s claim is recognizable speech.
1 Corinthians 12:101 Corinthians 12:10 · King James VersionTo another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
1 Corinthians 12:10 · King James VersionOpen source (4) lists “divers kinds of tongues” and “the interpretation of tongues” among gifts the same Spirit divides as he will. 1 Corinthians 12:301 Corinthians 12:30 · King James VersionHave all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
1 Corinthians 12:30 · King James VersionOpen source asks, “Do all speak with tongues?” in the same series as “are all apostles?” 1 Corinthians 14:21 Corinthians 14:2 · King James VersionFor he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
1 Corinthians 14:2 · King James VersionOpen source says the person who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, because no one understands him. 1 Corinthians 14:27–281 Corinthians 14:27–28 · King James Version14:27 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
14:28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
1 Corinthians 14:27–28 · King James VersionOpen source says two, or at the most three, and that by course, and one to interpret; otherwise the speaker is to keep silence in the church and speak to himself and to God. 1 Corinthians 14:391 Corinthians 14:39 · King James VersionWherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:39 · King James VersionOpen source says, “forbid not to speak with tongues.”
The tongues page sets the Pentecostal, Baptist, Reformed, and Methodist sentences beside those chapters. Baptist Faith and Message II.C (5), as that page prints it, says the Holy Spirit bestows the spiritual gifts and, at regeneration, baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. It does not say every believer speaks in tongues. The Assemblies of God article 8, quoted there, says Spirit baptism is witnessed by speaking with other tongues. Those are two church texts. The Catechism’s sentences are the third: gratitude, charity, and the shepherds’ test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Catholics Allowed to Speak in Tongues?
Catechism 800 (1) says a genuine charism is accepted with gratitude. Catechism 801 (1) says it is submitted to the shepherds. The paragraphs do not forbid tongues, and they do not make tongues the sign that a Catholic has the Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit God? is who the Spirit is. What Do Pentecostals Believe? is the Assemblies of God account of the initial sign.
Is Speaking in Tongues Considered Satanic?
Catechism 799 (1) calls charisms graces of the Holy Spirit. The paragraph does not call them satanic. 1 Corinthians 14 (4) orders how an unknown tongue is used in the assembly. The Catechism’s test is whether the gift is genuine and whether it is used in charity.
What Is an Example of Speaking in Tongues?
Acts 2:11Acts 2:11 · King James VersionCretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
Acts 2:11 · King James VersionOpen source (3) is the crowd hearing the wonderful works of God in their own tongues. 1 Corinthians 14:21 Corinthians 14:2 · King James VersionFor he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
1 Corinthians 14:2 · King James VersionOpen source (4) is speech that the assembly does not understand unless someone interprets. The two scenes are both in the New Testament. They are not the same description.
Is Receiving Communion on the Tongue the Same Thing?
No. “On the tongue” in a Catholic Mass is how the host is received. What Is Transubstantiation? is the Church’s sentence on the bread and the wine. Speaking in tongues is the charism in Acts and 1 Corinthians.
The Churches on This Site
References
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 799–801 (Charisms, on the Holy See’s archive of the Catechism.)
- Iuvenescit Ecclesia, 16 May 2016 (Letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The longer quotation is on the tongues article. The letter is not the Catechism.)
- Acts of the Apostles, 2:4–11Acts 2:4–11 · King James Version2:4
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
2:5And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
2:6Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
2:7And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
2:8And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
2:9Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
2:10Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
2:11Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
Acts 2:4–11 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - First Letter to the Corinthians, 12:4–11; 14:2–281 Corinthians 12:4–11 · King James Version12:4
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
12:5And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
12:6And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
12:7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
12:8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
12:9To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
12:10To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
12:11But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
1 Corinthians 12:4–11 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Baptist Faith and Message, II.C (A fetch on 13 October 2026 returned 403. The sentence here is the one already printed on What Does the Bible Say About Speaking in Tongues?)
See Also
- What Does the Bible Say About Speaking in Tongues? — Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 12–14, with Pentecostal, Catholic, Baptist, Reformed, and Methodist texts on tongues, Spirit baptism, and whether every believer speaks in tongues.
- What Do Pentecostals Believe? — The Assemblies of God and the Church of God confess the Trinity, Spirit baptism with tongues as the initial sign, healing, and a rapture before a thousand-year reign. The Bible’s tongues passages are quoted beside Westminster.
- Is the Holy Spirit God? — The Nicene confession that the Holy Spirit is God, in Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Methodist, and Pentecostal texts, and what those texts say about praying to the Spirit.
- What Is Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit? — The unforgivable sin in Matthew 12, Mark 3, and Luke 12, and how the Catechism, the LCMS FAQ, the Methodist Articles, and the Westminster Larger Catechism speak about it.
- Baptist vs Catholic: What's the Difference? — The Baptist Faith and Message beside the Catechism of the Catholic Church on authority, baptism, justification, Mary and the saints, the pope, and the Lord’s Supper.