Confession app blessed by Catholic bishop
CBC News
Posted: Feb 8, 2011 11:02 AM ET
Last Updated: Feb 8, 2011 11:54 AM ET
Related
Related Links
External Links
(Note:CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)
The confession app was number five as of Wednesday on the top paid lifestyle apps chart on the Canadian iTunes site, just ahead of 'iKamasutra' and just behind 'Mixologist: Drink Recipes.' (Patrick T. Fallon/Associated Press)An iPhone and iPad app that helps Roman Catholics seek forgiveness for their sins has been sanctioned by the Catholic Church.
Confession: A Roman Catholic App, developed by Little iApps in South Bend, Ind., received an "imprimatur" — an official publication licence from the church — from Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of the Indiana Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, the company said in a news release.
The release added that this is the first known imprimatur given to an iPhone or iPad app, even though a number of similar apps already exist.
As of Tuesday, the app was number five on the top paid lifestyle apps chart on the Canadian iTunes site, just ahead of "iKamasutra" and just behind "Mixologist: Drink Recipes."
The app, which sells for $1.99, was the only religious app in the Top 10. Despite that, version 1.0.1, updated on Feb. 2, had not been rated enough times by users to display an average rating. The first version was released in December.
"This app has already aided one man in returning to the sacrament after 20 years," said Patrick Leinen, the app developer and co-founder of the company in a statement.
Designed for use in church
The app "is not intended to function as a replacement for confession" at church," he said in an email to CBC News.
Instead, it is supposed to help people prepare for confession and is designed to be used in the confessional, the booth in church where people sit while confessing to a priest, he said.
The app walks people through confession step by step, based on text developed in collaboration with Catholic pastor Dan Scheidt and U.S. Catholic official Thomas G. Weinandy.
It reminds users when their last confessions were and keeps track of sins they have previously confessed.
It also advertises features such as password protection to allow multiple users, a "custom examination of conscience" based on age, sex and marital status, the ability to add sins that aren't listed and a choice of seven different acts of contrition — prayers that express sorrow for sins.
However, absolution or release from the sin can still only come from a priest.
In the past two years, the Catholic Church has embraced online and mobile tools to reach out to younger Catholics.
Pope Benedict XVI's staff announced an iPhone app in 2009 called H2Onews that provides video and audio news about the Pope's travels and speeches, along with Catholic events worldwide.
The Pope has also launched a Facebook app and a YouTube channel.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Canadian Pacific strikers face back-to-work legislation
- Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is prepared to end the Canadian Pacific Railway strike if necessary, after both CP and the union rejected a proposal for voluntary arbitration by the government-appointed negotiator on Sunday. Raitt says she is "extremely disappointed." more »
- Syrian regime denies role in Houla massacre
- The UN Security Council condemned the Syrian regime at an emergency meeting Sunday, holding president Bashar al-Assad's military responsible for the massacre of more than 100 people, dozens of whom were children younger than 10 years old. more »
- Ryder Hesjedal wins prestigious Giro d'Italia
- Victoria native Ryder Hesjedal has become the first Canadian to win one of the cycling world's three Grand Tour events, wrapping up the 2012 Giro d'Italia with an excellent performance in the final stage in Milan. more »
- Neighbour may have helped find missing kids in Mexico
- Two Winnipeg children who had been missing for nearly four years were found in Mexico after a man raised concerns about his neighbour, according to a private investigator. more »
Latest Technology & Science News Headlines
- South Africa, Australia to share world's largest telescope
- South Africa and Australia will jointly host the Square Kilometre Array, which promises to be the world's largest telescope, the international consortium in charge of the project said Friday. more »
- Bonavista, N.L., 'coyote' was really wolf, tests confirm
- Wolves have not been seen in Newfoundland since around 1930 and were believed to have been hunted to extinction on the island, but genetic tests have confirmed that an 82-pound animal shot on the Bonavista Peninsula in March was, in fact, a wolf. more »
- Once-rare argus butterfly thriving thanks to climate change
- Global warming is threatening the existence of many species, such as the giant polar bear, but in the case of Britain's brown argus butterfly, it took a species in trouble and made it thrive. more »
- Yahoo scraps digital magazine designed for iPad
- Yahoo has killed Livestand, a tablet magazine, just six months after its debut on the iPad. more »
Bob McDonald's Blog
Government to shut down unique fresh water research area May. 25, 2012 12:31 PM The Experimental Lakes Area research facility in Northern Ontario is being closed down after 44 years of providing invaluable data to scientists in Canada and internationally, a decision that has stunned researchers and environmental groups.
Quirks & Quarks
- May 26: Before the Lights Go Out May. 25, 2012 4:15 PM A new book, "Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us", suggests that the unpredictable, unplanned, ad-hoc way our energy use developed in the past will shape our energy future.
Latest Features
- Seniors float above Montreal's Quartier Latin
- Accused in blast that killed Alberta mom handled her funds
- Remains found in bag on Cape Breton river ID'd
- Neighbour may have helped find missing kids in Mexico
- Quebec students and province to resume talks
- Lip-dub marriage proposal an internet hit
- Syrian regime denies role in Houla massacre
- B.C. NDP calls for unity in fighting coast guard closure
- Canadian Pacific strikers face back-to-work legislation
