Confessions on the iPope
Well not quite, but there is now an iPhone app to help with confession.
Described as “the perfect aid for every penitent”, it offers users tips and guidelines to help them with the sacrament.
Now senior church officials in both the UK and US have given it their seal of approval, in what is thought to be a first.
The app takes users through the sacrament – in which Catholics admit their wrongdoings – and allows them to keep track of their sins.
It also allows them to examine their conscience based on personalised factors such as age, sex and marital status – but it is not intended to replace traditional confession entirely.
Instead, it encourages users to understand their actions and then visit their priest for absolution.
I have a few questions.
- Does the app search your e-mail to see whether you’ve been hinting of doing things that of which the Catholic Church would not approve? This would probably need a Bayesian filter and the Reverend Bayes wasn’t a Catholic.
- Does it look at all of the pictures you’ve downloaded to your phone and react accordingly?
- Does it check that the app associated with your football club is the right colour?
- Could the app be connected to add-on hardware that gives you a prick or an electric shock if you think naughty thoughts?
The possibilities are endless. And obviously the more serious the religion, the more serious the app!
It would also have added a whole new dimension to Clochemerle.
The Anonymous Widower 
I am, as you know, a Christian, but not Catholic, and so confession to a priest isnt part of my belief. My reaction to this app is much the same as my reaction to seeing small Jewish boys on their way to Synagogue with family wearing Man United or Thomas the Tank engine Kippurs.
They are trying too hard to keep people in their faith. There are limits and to me both of those cross the limits.
By the same token, I am not happy to see someone preaching or leading worship in jeans. Even if half the congregation are wearing jeans.
And I am a comparatively very liberal Christian, so goodness knows what others think!
Comment by liz | February 9, 2011 |