The investment of penance in "The End of Serrallonga"

In "The End of Serrallonga", the poetic voice fictionalizes the last confession of the bandit Joan Sala i Ferrer, known as Serrallonga, before his execution. The seven capital sins structure the confession, with a purely ritual repentance. When the sacrament is administered, instead of the priest imposing the fulfillment of a penance on the faithful, it is the faithful who proclaims the prayer he will utter before his execution. These are the last wills of the offender, which admit of various readings: from the Christian reading which sees in it the expression of the belief in the resurrection, to the ironic reading which postulates a will to deactivate the condemnation or repentance forced by the priest.