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Vatican Says 'Confession' iPhone App Can't Replace Real Confession

by Amar Toor on February 10, 2011 at 10:50 AM

confession app screenshotAn iPhone app designed to walk Catholics through the sacrament of confession has drawn criticism from no less an authority than the Vatican.

In a statement issued yesterday, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi dismissed any notion that Catholics might be able to use 'Confession: A Roman Catholic app' to completely replace real confession. "One cannot speak in any way of confessing via iPhone," reads a statement from Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi. "This cannot be substituted by any IT application." The app, which markets itself to "those who frequent the sacrament and those who wish to return," offers a guide to the confession, and keeps a password-protected log of users' sins.

Little iApps, the company that developed 'Confession,' insists that the app is intended not to replace confession, but to supplement it. "This app invites Catholics to prayerfully prepare for and participate in the Rite of Penance," the company said in a press release. The app also won an endorsement from a Bishop in Texas, and was developed with the help of two American church authorities. Upper management, however, seems like a much harder sell.

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