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We must confess this has come as a shock: The Catholic Church has embraced Apple Inc.’s iPhone and approved an app to guide troubled worshippers through confession.
The app, aptly named “Confession” was developed by a company in Indiana and is touted as “the perfect aid for every penitent,” in so much as it guides believers through the sacrament of confession.
The app – developed with the help of several priests – handily allows sinful Catholics to keep track of their sins while encouraging users to examine their conscience, own up to their transgressions and understand their actions better.
It even handily distinguishes possible offences based on a user’s age, sex and marital status, though it sadly can’t offer absolution [app-solution?] – you still need a priest for that.
Thus, in much the same way as apps which help you self diagnose medical issues, Confession helps one diagnose sickness in one’s soul, something money just can’t buy – except in the iTunes store for $2.
Speaking to Reuters, one of the app’s developers Patrick Leinen said his firm’s desire was to “invite Catholics to engage in their faith through digital technology,” something the pope has recently been waxing lyrical about in his World Communications Address on Jan. 24.
“Our goal with this project is to offer a digital application that is truly ‘new media at the service of the word’,” said the company.
Indeed, senior church officials – including Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne in Indiana – have been quick to offer the app the papal seal of approval, based on Pope Benedict XVI’s wishes that Christians embrace digital communication and make their presence felt online.
Perhaps an app is a better way to achieve that, seeing as the papal YouTube channel and Facebook application allowing users to send virtual postcards of the pontiff haven’t exactly rocked the world.
