Vatican Bans Confession Via iPhone App

(AP) NEW YORK — Got sins? A new app for the iPhone and the iPad seeks to help Catholics prepare for confession, that sacred ritual of seeking penance for sins big and small.

"Confession: A Roman Catholic App" does not purport to take the place of an actual confession. Not even the Catholic Church, tech-savvy as it is with the Vatican tweeting in six languages, would approve that. Rather, it guides you through the Ten Commandments with a slew of questions attached to each.

Check boxes for the sins you've committed – and there are many, as any lapsed Catholic knows. The $1.99 app then guides you through contrition and offers sample text you can tell a real-life priest, which you'll have to find yourself to absolve you of your sins.

The AFP reports the app is not accepted by the Vatican:

The Vatican put its foot down Wednesday over the idea of "confessing" by iPhone, after news that US users can now download an application for the Apple gadget that helps the faithful gain absolution.

"It is essential to understand that the rites of penance require a personal dialogue between penitents and their confessor... It cannot be replaced by a computer application," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists.

"I must stress to avoid all ambiguity, under no circumstance is it possible to 'confess by iPhone'," he said.

Comments

[terroh8er]

10:54 AM on 02/11/2011

Umm.. HP reported last week that it was approved by the Vatican.

[Whinger]

10:30 AM on 02/11/2011

Yeah, the Vatican is correct, God doesn't use an iPhone or similar....

You are required to bare your soul to some faceless father figure sitting a dark wooden box!

[SaneThoughts]

10:20 PM on 02/10/2011

If you are confessing via an iPhone app you are not listening to the church sales pitch. Secretly the Pope is still pissed at Galileo for looking around and seeing reality. A brick makes more forward progress than the church.

[SwingingFromCenter]

07:00 PM on 02/10/2011

Well of course the church is going to ban them.  The people who developed the app forgot to put in a credit card transaction registry by which the confessors could pay their tithes.

[jsgaetano]

01:21 PM on 02/10/2011

Cultists already worship Apple.  This just seems like the next logical step.

[jsgaetano]

01:11 PM on 02/10/2011

Why does Der Popenfurher want to get between a person and God?

[PenguinLinux]

10:30 AM on 02/10/2011

If there was an app to summon an altar boy to the rectory, you bet yer a** that'd be approved.

[jsgaetano]

01:12 PM on 02/10/2011

Conservatives of all stripes already have that service- it's called Rentboy.
 
If you mention you're a "Family Values Conservative", you get a 15% discount!

[mjb5406]

09:17 AM on 02/10/2011

I thought the idea of this app was silly to begin with... however, the Catholic Church is totally off the mark regarding confession... there is no need for a priest to be intermediary. God listens to all, and only He (or She, if you are of that belief) can forgive a person's wrongdoings. Yes, I know the Bible states that Jesus gave that authority to the Apostles, but once again, it was probably an allegory... would he (Jesus) have given humans the right to judge in place of God? I doubt it.

[jrd57]

12:12 PM on 02/10/2011

The priest isn't the one who forgives the penitent personally, nor does he judge them. God acts through the priest to absolve the person of their sins, and part of the purpose of confessing to a priest is to make one humble before God as reparation for our sins. Telling another person what you have done wrong and owning up to your failings and shortcomings is a lot harder than doing it in the privacy of your bedroom when you're alone.

[Rivster]

12:00 AM on 02/11/2011

Exactly.

From the Jewish perspective, repentance cannot be phoned in. I would think the same would hold true for the other faith communities.

[jsgaetano]

01:16 PM on 02/10/2011

Ratzo is probably angry that there's going to be competition for their upcoming "Indulgences" app, which sells forgiveness each time you re-subscribe for $1000.

[debby6669]

08:40 AM on 02/10/2011

So let me get this straight; you donate $1.99 to the pope's defense fund, and don't even get any absolution for your money??

[hagagaga]

08:25 AM on 02/10/2011

Did anybody think they'd allow it?

[Sandra Hanks]

07:06 AM on 02/10/2011

There are still plenty of Sacraments that apps could serve ...
There could be a do-it-yourself baptism app, a “Do you take this woman to be your wedded wife” tick-a-box app, and even one for performing last rites and burials. (Pre-order holy water, salt, unction oil, even vacuum-packed communion wafers through the post … $49.99 the set … and have all on hand for the next religion-related emergency.)

If you’re expecting a crowd, everyone will certainly have their phone with them, so have them download the appropriate app and join in the Kyrie, eleisoning. Think of the fortune saved in candles, since the soft light of touch screens would create the same sort of mood, and processions could be led by iPads raised in solemn tribute.

More on this here: http://sandrahanksbenoiton.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/got-a-sin-phone-it-in/

[Zihuat]

05:57 AM on 02/10/2011

Aw dang! Does this mean I can't just 'phone it in?'

[mickeyspumoni]

04:21 AM on 02/10/2011

God loves all creatures, great and small (including Tweets!)

[jessivehadit]

04:16 AM on 02/10/2011

hahaha, talk about a serious misuse of technology. It's only because people left the superstitious backwards science-repressing church that we have modern things like iPhones in the first place. To then use that tech to do something so ridiculous as confessing your sins against God digitally to some priest conduit who can somehow forgive you via powers he received from said deity is HILARIOUS! It is amazing on so many levels.

[jimbo92107]

03:13 AM on 02/10/2011

Dear iPhone,
I really like my neighbor's donkey...