A screen display of a new app for the iPhone and the iPad designed to help Catholics prepare for confession is seen Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo)SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Can your iPad or iPhone bring you closer to God? A new application for the devices aims to help Roman Catholics who haven’t been to the confessional booth in a while keep track of their sins, one Commandment at a time.
The $1.99 “Confession: A Roman Catholic App” can’t grant forgiveness — you still need to receive the sacrament from a real, live priest like always. But the app’s designers and some believers see it as a way to spur Catholics back into the habit of repenting.
“There’s a reason we designed it for these mobile devices: We want you to go to confession,” said Patrick Leinen, one of the developers and a co-founder of the company Little iApps.
Over the last several decades, American Catholics have been receiving the penitential sacrament less frequently, and many of them may not know how it’s done.
“As somebody who’s heard thousands of confessions, there are some people who get so scared coming in that they lose their train of thought and they’re not able to remember everything they planned to say,” said the Rev. Dan Scheidt, pastor of Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Mishawaka, who gave the developers advice and guidance.