New app aims to help Catholics go to confession

A friar who has used the app says the technology is meant to help people stay on top of the format of confession, including what to say and how to say it. He explains how the app cannot be used to make an actual confession.

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The 'Confession: A Roman Catholic App' application is seen on an iPad in this undated video image.

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CTV.ca News Staff

Date: Wed. Feb. 9 2011 8:10 PM ET

Need to seek reconciliation for your sins? Well, thank goodness, there's an app for that.

A new application for Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch has just been released that allows Catholics to keep track of their sins and prepare for the sacrament of reconciliation.

It's called "Confession: A Roman Catholic App," and it's being touted as "the perfect aid for every penitent."

The app, which costs $1.99 in Apple's iTunes store, offers password-protected customized profiles, to help users find the sins that might pertain to them.

"It has questions like "Have I been faithful to the Gospel?" and then goes into the nitty-gritty stuff: "Have I engaged in sexual fantasies?" "Have I looked at others lustfully?" Friar Rick Riccioli, the pastor at Saint Bonaventure Parish in Toronto, who has tried out the app, told CTV's Canada AM Wednesday.

The app then gives a step-by-step guide through the Rite of Penance in which Catholics confess to their sins and seek forgiveness, followed by a list of seven acts of contrition.

The app's developer, Patrick Leinen, co-founder of Little iApps, says he was inspired by Pope Benedict XVI's World Communication Day address last year, in which he called on priests to embrace digital communication.

Two priests collaborated in the app's development: Fr. Thomas G. Weinandy, the executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices; and Fr. Dan Scheidt, pastor of Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Mishawaka, Indiana.

What the app doesn't do is grant absolution. Catholics still have to see a priest for that.

But the idea is to allow Catholics to gather a list of their sins and prepare for the moment when they enter the confessional at church.

Vatican: app is no substitution for confession

The developers of the application have never claimed it's a substitute for confession in the flesh, but it nevertheless came under criticism from the Vatican.

"One cannot speak in any way of confessing via iPhone," Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesperson, said Wednesday.

Lombardi said confession requires the presence of the penitent and the priest.

"This cannot be substituted by any IT application."

Riccioli says if penitents came to him with their iPhones and said they wanted to consult the app before starting confession, he wouldn't object.

"I'd be open to that certainly, especially if they hadn't been for a while," he said.

"But I think after a while, I'd say, ‘Okay, let's put the computer down and let's talk heart to heart.' Because confession is really about people interacting with the compassion and mercy and kindness of the priest. So I think you'd rather have a more honest conversation rather than just a list of sins."

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Wayne
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Does the app also come with a sin to purgatory conversion calculator. I am also waiting for my smartphone rosery app too. I am tired of those beads getting all tangled up in my pocket. Hmmmm, Jesus said, come to me all who are weary and burden, and I will give you rest. I will just go to Jesus in prayer. Oh, and Jesus's suffering and cross was to pay the penalty of sin "Once and for all". I will confess to him and save my $1.99 for something truly Christ centered like feeding the poor.

Colin Hanshaw
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As a computer programmer I would have to warn people of two things.#1 Nothing is completely secure online#2 Because the app is an American based app, the American government has the right to monitor all internet information, even though your in Canada it's running off a U.S. server so all your secret's are legally allowed to be collected.Seriouslly wake up, you people don't even recognize when your loosing your privacy, you people actually beg for it.

Guido Sarducci
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Man made religion is now really hitting new lows. Religion will send you to hell in a hand basket whereas a genuine relationship with Jesus will save you from eternity hell. Its amazing that those who are spiritually blinded simply cannot discern the difference between religion and relationship.

Anne
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It might be worth remembering that putting things into an electronic device means they are 'out there'. This may open up a whole new tool for divorce lawyers.

Sheharpe
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I think that this is a GREAT BIG step into reality by the Vatican whose reactionary, knee-jerk-conservatism has been very detrimental to the faithful. Good on them for going with this. And yeah face to face is best way to clean house, no doubt about it.I am just happy that some effort is being made to join the 21st Century. Tradition is fine, people need to be grounded. But the Catholic Church has been failing it's believers for years and is shrinking because of it's inability to change and move forward. This App thing is wonderful.

Harry Foley
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What... Nobody remembers Woody Allen's movie SLEEPER???

Major Mac
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This app is to be seen as a tool only, surely. I am an older Catholic and not likely to use such an app but if it helps to keep people on track in their lives, then why not use it. It's like one of those diet programs where you write down all you eat. I would rather not eat a slice of cheesecake than have to write it on my food list!! If you think you may have to actually write down your sin, you might not do it in the first place!! This is not a substitute for confession. And for those who don't understand or agree with confession, confession is a wonderful place/sacrament where Catholics can ask for forgiveness, receive it if they are truly sorry and make a fresh start. It is a wonderful gift that seems to be greatly underutilized in current times.

Nick
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I thought that was what FACEBOOK was for!?!

Terry O'Brien
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This is inane. Any REAL Catholic would not waste their time on this stupidity. Normally I would be offended by this sort of imbecility, but this is SO ridiculous that I cannot even bring myself to be offended. You want facts about "Confession"? Read this: http://www.catholic.com/library/Forgiveness_of_Sins.asp

DANIEL H
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The RC church has ruin my life. If they think I would ever use something like this they are nuts! It is probably just another way to get money.

Dawson
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The only problem I have with this is that it might cause some people to just list all their sins in the app, and then go to confession after longer than a year. So anyone using it has to understand the importance of confessing frequently enough that you don't forget things. This technology should only be used to make things more convenient and perhaps to make better confessions, not to make one's confessions less frequent. On the other hand, it could be great for someone who's a little scared about going to confession after a long time. I know I was terrified when I returned to it, but I had been wanting to for months, so it would've been nice to have this app.

Mitch
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It's pathetic that religion has succumbed to this. We might as well be advertising, "Confess your sins!" on public billboards. If I was religious, I would never take orders regarding my morality through an iPhone.

bc grrl
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and on top of it all, big brother has a copy of your sins too! so you confess that you ...(pick out and insert your dirty deed here...that's a sin in it's own rights) and it is considered amoral AND illegal! well, now you can have the coppers arrive on your door and arrest you for your confession, you have already confessed, it's police work for dummies at that point! the more i think of it, maybe this is a good thing, we can weed out a few more of our local idiots! i'll stick with just being a good human and helping out fellow people in my community, my sins will be judged when i come back for the next round...i like karma, i am earning a good place and i don't need a priest to judge or forgive me!

Whitney
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"Need to seek reconciliation for your sins? Well, thank goodness, there's an app for that."If you're going confess your sins, shouldn't you be at the church or pray? I don't think an app is going to help you with your religious struggles. God isn't going to read your responses that you put in on your app.

NS in NB
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@inrideo: It's bad enough to deny god. But to use text written by man to do so, only underscores your desperation. Maybe a chat with a higher power would help you get over your contempt for Christians. If you don't have faith inrideo, how can you believe?

Kevin McDonald
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Not going to auricular confession is actually unscriptural: Jesus said for us to confess our sins to others and he gave the apostles, and thus their successors, priests, the ability to forgive sins or not forgive them. Apostolic succession is Jesus to Peter, the apostle he made primer inter pares - first among equals. You are not confessing to a vicar of Christ when you just say it quietly in your mind and you are not granted absolution. Only a priest can do that and Catholic doctrine on this is much more based in scripture and holy tradition than the protestant heresies. And many here are mistaking what the app is. Its only a memo holder and way to prepare for a good confession. It probably has the Act of Contrition in it for those who don't have it memorized. Ignorance of Catholic doctrine is no excuse to attack it publicly. Examine our truth claims and study church history you will cease to be protestant,.

RealityCzech
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Here we go again. Inrideo said: "Familiar with the virgin Mary? Look up the alma/parthenos problem. Mary wasn't a virgin in the original text. It was a mistranslation for young woman..." That is not the case. Matthew used the Greek word "parthenos", which means "virgin". He was quoting the Septuagint text of Isaiah, which also uses parthenos. The Hebrew original of Isaiah uses "alma", a young woman; but Matthew opted for the Septuagint translation. Take it up with Matthew!

happy
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Religion is just a means of manipulation and it was Karl Marx who called it the opiate of the masses. Have you ever noticed how rich the church is and how poor the catholic masses are? The "shepherd" is wealthy and living a very comfortable life while the "sheep" blindly follow. Pathetic.

viral venus
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For every good christian soul who lives a decent life and treats their fellow man with respect and love there is one that views forgiveness of sins as a "get out of hell free" card. Those pseudo-christians behave in the most appalling manner in their daily life knowing that all they have to do is "confess" and be forgiven and suffer no consequence for their abuse of others. If the beliefs of the faithful are true, they will share their heaven with some of mankinds' most heinous individuals who see faith more as a way to dodge societal responsibility and do what they please than as rules to live by. This fact of being human is one of the reasons I find no validity in the practice of any faith nor can I actually believe a supreme being would be so gullible as to let people off the hook for shufflng a few beads and repeating the right words.

RealityCzech
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Inrideo said: "I love that I'm being voted down by people for pointing out the nonsense of religion. Try some history books." Pot, meet kettle...kettle, this is Mr. Pot. "The New Testament requires that you accept Jesus as your savior to get into heaven (which, by the way, only allows 144,000 Jews in. Oh, and only men) so people realized that babies couldn't do that and became upset. So the church invented Limbo! Now babies had a place to go." Try reading some history books. Try reading the New Testament. "The doctrine of transubstantiation is that the cracker turns into the real flesh and blood, not symbolic, when swallowed." No, it's not: it's all about accidents and substance. To understand that, try reading some books of Roman Catholic philosophy. "For even more New Testament fun, google the 'synoptic problem'. Remember, the more you know...This post brought to you by the letter Q." Indeed: and don't base your judgments on the problem based on what you find solely at the font of all knowledge, wikipedia. This post brought to you by Matthew Q. Apostle. Remember, the more you know, the more you're going to have to defend.Again, I am not Catholic!

Charles
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Can I take a picture of my sins too?

inrideo
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Sorry Czech. I swapped limbo with purgatory by mistake in there. Other than that the rest stands.They voted Limbo out.Familiar with the virgin Mary? Look up the alma/parthenos problem. Mary wasn't a virgin in the original text. It was a mistranslation for young woman...And so on, and so on.

RealityCzech
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First off, I'm NOT Catholic. Inrideo said: "Catholic doctrine now supports evolution." Yes that's right. "They also voted Purgatory out of existence": no, they did not. "and did away with indulgences": no, they have not ."How exactly does one confess to sin, when sin doesn't even exist?That whole 'original sin' premise that they use to paint you with guilt from birth? That's from the actions of Adam and Eve.And now they don't even have an Adam and Eve." Actually, yes, they do. RealityCzech

MT
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Wow, where to start...first off, a priest doesn't forgive ones' sins: God does, through the person of the priest. Does that mean one cannot obtain forgiveness directly from God: no, but confession to another reflects a seriousness about ones' desire to seek reconciliation and amend ones' life that is difficult to achieve when one confesses in private (even the 12 steps recognize that). Read James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed."

inrideo
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I love that I'm being voted down by people for pointing out the nonsense of religion. Try some history books.Indulgences were fees paid to the church to buy your way out of hell/purgatory a little earlier. Coveted a neighbor's ass? 2 quid and they knocked a year off of your wait to get into heaven. What a deal! You could be a wanker all you wanted if you had the money to pay the church.The New Testament requires that you accept Jesus as your savior to get into heaven (which, by the way, only allows 144,000 Jews in. Oh, and only men) so people realized that babies couldn't do that and became upset.So the church invented Limbo! Now babies had a place to go. But now that's silly so they got rid of it.Most Catholics in a recent poll didn't even realize that their symbolic cannibalism is supposed to be REAL cannibalism. The doctrine of transubstantiation is that the cracker turns into the real flesh and blood, not symbolic, when swallowed. To test the effectiveness of this magic one could substitute ipecac for the wine and see if the magic strips it of the ability to cause vomiting during the transformation.For even more New Testament fun, google the 'synoptic problem'.Remember, the more you know...This post brought to you by the letter Q.

Alex
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I like this, and if I had an iPhone I'd definitely buy the app. My girlfriend has one, so I'll mention it to her. But Catholics should keep in mind that this, along with any other form of technology, is good only if it's used for a greater end - in this case, receiving absolution. It's not good enough in itself to replace confession. If we remember that, this app could be really useful!

Aggi
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Wow, they made God digital now too? Either the priests are bored, or catholics have become so busy we need to type our sins and save in case we repeat the sins.(what's short form for idiot in the new app?)God help us all......and I am a practicing catholic.

Meredith
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What a neat idea... I think it's cool how various religions are embracing new technology and using it! It just makes me sad that the mistakes and misunderstandings of a few have painted the Catholic faith so darkly. We've never claimed to be perfect and have openly apologized for the many wrongs we've done (just look through the Vatican website for all the letters, speeches and prayers of apology!) I just hope that in a society that wants so badly to have "equal rights for all", that the persecution and judgment of Catholics, and all Christians for that matter, will finally stop.

Lucy
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Think I would just use it to meditate on my sins-so I knew what to say in confession to the Priest. Altho-I worry this app is not private secure enough and hackers could transmit your deepest thoughts all over the place.Needs work I think.

allan
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Oh great, now we have God on the damn cellphones! Looks like the "boys 'r us" club of priests are getting hardup for business.

Judas
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it *COSTS* 1.99 to confess your sins now? Wow, God must be getting hit by the recession too!!

NS in NB
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For the record. We don't confess our sins to a priest, we speak to god through a priest. Another thing i know is that good Catholics, like all Christians, observe their own rituals, rather than criticize others for observing theirs.

Inrideo
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Catholic doctrine now supports evolution. (They also voted Purgatory out of existence, and did away with indulgences).How exactly does one confess to sin, when sin doesn't even exist?That whole 'original sin' premise that they use to paint you with guilt from birth? That's from the actions of Adam and Eve.And now they don't even have an Adam and Eve. The bible certainly doesn't mention Lucy or Homo habilis anywhere.When's the app coming out that let's you track their shuffling of paedophile priests? That one will be popular.

John Lethbridge
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Ps 40 - my sins are more than I can count... I am thankful for full and free deliverance from sin when I confess directly to my Heavenly Father that I sin and am prone to sin because I am a sinner and hopeless of myself, and seek forgiveness through Christ His son. The catholics go way beyond Scripture with their confessional boxes. People are seeking mercy, compassion and kindness from an earthly priest, when it is Jesus Christ they need and only He who can provide. Go to the Saviour, he gently calls you to Himself. He is the great High Priest, and we have direct access to Him.

Jesus
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What a ridiculous concept, telling another human your sins and then having them magically washed away. I much prefer owning up to my sins, learning from them, and then trying to become a better person. Not forgetting about them because I told my big brother. Not that I consider half of the things the Catholics call sins as actual sins. But I certainly consider child rapping a sin, persecuting homosexuals a sin, opposing science a sin, opposing history a sin, treating women as objects as a sin. It is a hard enough personal burden on poor Catholics to have to confess your sins to these hypocrites, now you can do it on the go!!!

For the record
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App not needed. I confess my sins directly to God daily and because of my acceptance of Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross by His sacrificial atonement in my place they are forgiven. That's bible. The notion about confessing to a priest along with a "penance" to be performed afterward suggests what Christ did on the cross wasn't good enough for complete atonement and we as imperfect men must improve upon what Jesus Christ did on the cross. I can say with confidence that God disagrees with that unbiblical practice after sending His Son to die in our place. Food for thought to be sure for those who care about spiritual truth.

happy
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First of all the whole idea of confessing your sins to a priest who in all likelihood is a sinner himself is absurd. As a Protestant I cannot understand the need. I wonder why Catholics don't have direct access to God and need the middlemen (priests).

Prof. Pye Chartt
said
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I can think of another app that might be useful for the Catholic Church and its priests...but it could only be disclosed at a Friday-night comedy club.

bc grrl
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i see that catholicism has hit a new low.

Rik
said
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Maybe theres a need for an app to remind these people not to kill, commit adultry, and covet, etc.

Anne
said
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How ridiculous. And by the way, Priests cannot forgive sins, only God can.

Jaid in Toronto
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Sinner: Forgive me father for I have sinned, these are my sins *pulls out iPhone* Priest: You can't remember your sins? *pulls out iPhone* For each sin, you must recite the following prayers. It's not a bad app at all and good attempt nonetheless, I just can't help but think a situation like mentioned above will happen. Good luck to all Christians who buy the app, may it and God be with you.