New App for Confession- updated 2/9

Penitents can now buy a computerized tool to help in making their way through the experience of the Sacrament of Penance: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1100408.htm

One wonders: Will the confessors have to follow the same app? Will the results of the examination of conscience REALLY be wiped out, or could someone with enough motivation and skill gain access to this personal information? Who decides what’s in the examination of conscience?

On the other hand, if a step-by-step guide prompts both penitents and confessors to follow the Rite of Penance more fully, which is beautiful but too often truncated in practice, this could be a benefit. The technology might be a help for some.

What do you think?

UPDATE:  New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd notes today that this app stands at #42 on the iTunes bestseller list, making it a “global success.”

Rita Ferrone

Rita Ferrone is an award-winning writer and frequent speaker on issues of liturgy and church renewal in the Roman Catholic tradition. She is currently a contributing writer and columnist for Commonweal magazine and an independent scholar. The author of several books about liturgy, she is most widely known for her commentary on Sacrosanctum Concilium (Liturgy: Sacrosanctum Concilium, Paulist Press). Her most recent book, Pastoral Guide to Pope Francis's Desiderio Desideravi, was published by Liturgical Press.

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4 responses to “New App for Confession- updated 2/9”

  1. Claire Mathieu

    Complete with inspirational quotes that pop up automatically after going to confession.

    Reply
  2. Jordan Zarembo

    I’ll stick to a penny catechism and rosary. I work with computers all day. I’d lose my mind with a smartphone. A cheap paper booklet and a wooden bead set allow for a more meditative examination of conscience. Besides, neither can ring at embarrassing times.

    I am also fond of softly saying the penitential psalms before Confession. I was given an e-reader for Christmas. That’s technology enough for me. I’ve toyed with the idea of loading a psalter on to the e-reader rather than toting a bound psalter or a breviary to church. Has anyone tried this?

    Reply
  3. Donna Eschenauer

    What comes to mind – Aggiornamento!

    If this helps people, great. I am happy to be informed about this. Thank you Rita.

    Reply
  4. Rita Ferrone

    Maureen Dowd’s column is written in her usual snarky style, but there is some new information contained in it beyond the original article linked above. She connects it with the Pope’s call for priests to use technology better, and she interviewed the people who developed the product. The examples she gives of “sin questions” give a fuller picture than what’s posted above too.

    But no mention of the happy messages after it’s over…

    (I found that weird, myself. I must be getting old. Jordan, can I borrow your penny catechism?)

    Reply

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