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Vatican Bans IOS Confession App
An anonymous reader writes "Despite all the hype that a lowly priest had approved the new confessional app hitting the app store, the truth has now revealed itself. According to today's Daily Mail, a spokesman for the Vatican, Federico Lombardi said: '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. I must stress to avoid all ambiguity, under no circumstance is it possible to confess by iPhone."
To be more specific the app is not banned, but it's purpose has been clarified.
It is an app designed to help prepare people for confession, they only say no to the idea of this replacing the act of confessing to a priest.
The app wasn't to make confessions anyway, but to assist Catholics in the confession process. From the original article: "So, how does the app work? It leads you through an 'Examination of Conscience' to help you figure out what your real sins are -- and not just by retreading your run of the mill 10 Commandments. The sinful suggestions the app offers are inventive and even age appropriate."
I've read elsewhere that one of the priests who designed it, had a parishioner show up in the confession box with it, and used the app during confession to help remind him of his transgressions.
So this is just grandstanding by the Papacy. The app was never meant to replace "personal dialogue between penitents and their confessor." This is like saying Google Maps is bad because it somehow replaces the actual travel you're intending to take. Uh, no.
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The iPhone app was never meant to replace the Sacrament. It is a tool to help people prepare, do it, and pray. I don't agree with using a digital device while in confession or saving information even temporarily on devices when it comes to my sins.
There is a free application for Android devices that is similar called PenanceProject. It helps users do an examination of conscience before the Sacrament and to pray afterwards.
You can get the application here: https://market.android.com/details?id=appinventor.ai_jamorrow.PenanceProject
To find out more about The Penance Project and why Catholics confess please visit: http://www.thepenanceproject.
The app in question was created to help people through the process of Confession. It's a little daunting if you haven't done it in a while. Trust me, as a chronic on-again-off-again Catholic, I know. I have he app. It just takes the place of old catechism books I would use to brush up on Confession before going.
The article says that no app can ever replace going to a priest. That's not what this app attempts to do. The conclusion that the app is banned is drawn from faulty logic. There is no ban. Who ever wrote the article has absolutely no idea what either side of this is talking about.
This app doesn't do confession. It never did. That was some creation by an incredibly simplistic media headline which was always wrong.
The app helps you figure out what your sins are, and can keep track of what you've previously confessed.
So all they're saying now is that the app can't do something that it never did in the first place. Umm, goodie?
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
The Vatican didn't BAN anything! A spokesperson for the Vatican said it wasn't supposed to be used for call-in confessions — which it was never DESIGNED to do in the first place; it's not even possible to do that!
RTFA!
a spokesman for the Vacitan, Federico Lombardi said: ‘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’. ‘I must stress to avoid all ambiguity, under no circumstance is it possible to "confess by iPhone".’
The guy is STATING THE OBVIOUS because the app has been sensationalized, hello! /. is better than this!
I wouldn't say it's "grandstanding by the Papacy". There was a lot of misinformation going around about the app - a lot of news stories that were flat wrong - and setting the record straight officially and unambiguously makes sense. (I'm hardly a fan of the Catholic Church, but they're not guilty of quite everything they're accused of. :) )
PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
Newsflash: catholic.com provides literature supporting the catholic church. :P
The truth is that in the past the Catholic church was a very corrupt and power hungry organization. Notice I'm giving the benefit of doubt to the present church.
Indulgences were sold, AND the church purposely kept the bible away from the masses by keeping it in latin and in limited distribution. Johannes Gutenberg got in trouble with the church by publishing a readable translation of the Bible, and later Martin Luther inadvertently initiated the protestant reformation by publishing his "95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences" protesting the actions of the Archbishop's selling of indulgences to finance the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica.
Just because the church spent centuries trying to justify indulgences doesn't negate the suspicions that protestants still hold against catholicism.
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