“There’s an App for that…”
Faced with declining members and the closing of many of its parishes, the Catholic Church has begun to make efforts to modernize; its latest attempt “Confession”, a Roman Catholic app, thought to be the first app approved by the church authority. The iPhone app, which retails for $1.99, walks Catholics through the sacrament of confession and is intended to be a “personalized examination of conscience for each user.”
This new app leads back to the question of where do we draw the line with our cell phones and our dependence on apps? This idea of a digital confessional reminds me of the commercial for the Windows Phone…the “Really?” commercial. The Church says that the new confession app does not take the place of the confessional and the faithful still need to see a priest for absolution.
We rely on our phones and apps for so much already, do we really need an app for confession? I’m not Catholic, so I’m viewing this idea from the outside looking in…
What do you think?
-X
P.S. What if God doesn’t have an iPhone?
THIS IS CRAZYYYYYYYYYY....
ReplyDeleteI don't even know what to say about this.
What the heck?!
Stupid, stupid, stupid... :P
I am a catholic and I think this idea is absurd. If you are a devot catholic and you feel that you have commited a number of sins and wish to confess them you shouyld make time to actually see a priest and not just buy an app for it. A true catholic wouldnt feel any better just by confessing with a phone the only thing that would actually help them is the true sacrament of confession which catholics should make time for.
ReplyDeleteI believe that since the Church is losing more and more followers, they need someway to make more money. Therefore, they created an app that gives some Catholics a feeling that they are confessing their sins, when in fact, they are really on giving money to Apple and the Church. This whole idea is ridiculous in every aspect.
ReplyDeleteAt my church my pastor says that if we can't go to church its good to pray and be godly at home, so I guess if you can't make it to confession then it is beneficial. But an app can't replace going to confession.
ReplyDeletei don't think that this is a bad idea only because of the fact that it may help people. since it doesn't replace actually going to church and confessing, i don't see the harm that it can cause. if people keep using the app they could realize that they need to go to confession, therefore it could act as a reminder fore some people. the only problem that could occur with this app is that you don't know who is able to read your confessions..
ReplyDeleteThey're just trying to get money for the church. If they say it doesn't count for a real confession, it has no point being in the app store. It's a sad day when the church does something like this. WWJD.
ReplyDeletei think that this is completly crazy! the Catholic church is not going to get new members by adding a cofessional app... also by doing this the information you send can be held against you. i just don't understand why you would pay $1.99, when you can go to the church for free! this is completly insane!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is an absolutely ridiculous concept. Depending on phones to help pay taxes, or gain access to a YouTube video, instead of moving to the computer, is perfectly acceptable; ignoring the importance of physically confessing your sins to a priest, if you are a Roman Catholic, is far from it.
ReplyDeleteThe followers of the Catholic religion who support this are completely contradicting themselves in their beliefs. Stating that it is fine to simply log your sins into an application will lead the general public to believe that, by confessing to their iPhone, that they are absolved of their wrongdoings. Immediately following up the previous statement by saying, "oh, but still go to confession anyway!" is ridiculous. Most technophiles will only hear the first part of the statement, and have even more reason to not attend regular confessions.
I can only wonder what is next for the Catholic Church; a build your own priest App? Construct your own church? Catholic Tycoon? Virtual Church? The possibilities are endless! I believe that these applications the priests are condoning and patenting can end in only way: the ultimate fall of the Catholic Church.
-Jake M.
Honestly, this isn't really that bad of an idea. I'm shocked this "invention" hasn't already been released previously. It seems rediculous at first, but is a good way to make money. People may say the Catholic Church is being greedy in creating this and charging people for a service that ultimately could be free at an actual church, but it's a pretty creative way to make a few extra dollars. Splitting up all of that money among every church in the entire world is an impossible task. Which leads to an extremely important question: Where is all of this money going?! This Application is probably clever enough to attract the attention of thousands or even millions of people worldwide, so where is that $1.99 per download going? Hopefully to the reconstruction of Churchs, or Church funds, etc. However, this may not always be the case. The Catholic Church has a bad rap for some of their scandals and ordeils in the last century or so (thanks to the help of the media). This may not help their cause in staying "under the radar" if this backfires.
ReplyDeleteThis is a ridiculous idea and I cannot even understand how and why somebody would think of creating an app like that. Being able to confess sins through a text message or an app on your phone just doesn't seem like something that should be okay. Almost everything in the world is accessable these days through a cellphone or through the internet. However, I don't believe that being able to confess sins through your phone should be okay. People should be required to go to Church and attend refular confessions if that is part of their religion.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the things people say during confession are supposed to be confidential. In an app like this, anyone could get access to someone's personal confession. In this case, people who have committed crimes and such could now be convicted of their crimes because of the things they say in their confessions app. The police could gain access to everything people say on their confession app, and many crimals could potentially be convicted because of this app. Although I believe the crimals should be convited of their crimes, being convicted through confession should not be the way they get caught. Basically, although I am not a Catholic, I do not believe in this app at all.
P.S. Jake, I really enjoyed your last paragraph. :)
This, in my opinion, is ridiculous. People are taking things too far with technology. Slowly but surely technology is taking over and replacing activites that once required some effort and in most cases, a face to face conversation. Because of technology it is now possible to order pizza from a computer or cell-phone and physically talking to people has been replaced with texting, tweeting, or using webcams.
ReplyDeleteI believe that creating a "Confession" app is taking things too far. Religion seemed to be one of the only things technology couldn't touch simply because it doesn't change. Ceremonies and traditions have generally always been the same. Someone getting married in a Catholic church now would basically have the same ceremony as a couple married in the '80s. But now, with this app, the Church is changing. Although it is not supposed to replace the real confession with a priest, in some cases it might. Some people refuse to make phone calls and would rather text so why wouldn't some people just use the app and avoid the church? Its easier and more convenient... and in my opinion, stupid.
I honestly find all this app bussiness completely ridiculous. Theres currently a book in existence called "100 Apps You Can't Live Without". Followed by the sequel, "100 More Apps You Can't Live Without". And im sure there will be yet another, probably with this lovely app included. I hate it really. We have survived before this without iPhones. I'm alive without these apps right now! All of these things onmly cater to mans ever growing need to avoid contact with others, and the slow degrading of our social skills and work ethic. Why flip thorugh a phonebook? Theres an app for that. Why buy a map? Theres an app for that. Why go to church? Theres now an app for that. This is only another bit down the slope we've been traveling for some time.
ReplyDeleteim not catholic.. but i still think this idea is really stupid because if people want to have confession that bad, they should just show up at the church instead of writing there sins on an app. .. Everyones probably confessing there sins to this app that no one probably checks.. plus if everything gets modernized with applications, our world would get pretty boring.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think it is pretty stupid. People rely on their phones for soo much already and now they will rely on them for religion. Eventually, this app will take away from the whole catholic experience. When people ask if you had gone to church this Sunday they are going to end up responding "No, but I confessed my sins to my iPhone today..."
ReplyDelete-Jessica P.
I looked up the app. I really do not understand the point of this app, except maybe to help you realize aaalllll the things you didn't even know you were doing wrong. If according to the catholic religion, "Confessions by electronic media are invalid and that ABSOLUTION BY THE PRIEST must be given in person".
ReplyDeleteAfter talking in detail about confession today in class, I would hope you have a pretty clear understanding of what is said and what you do in confession. This app really does actually do all of that. I'll go through it.
1.Log in and begin "custom examination of conscience" This is based on age, relationship status, things like that.
2.The ten commandments are listed, and you can click on each and it asks things like "Do I not give God Time every day in prayer?" and you can literally, check off the boxes.
3.Click "Begin Confession" and it spells out exactly what you would say to a priest.
This seems absolutely ridiculous to me. Spiritually i see no gain whatsoever in confessing to your ipod. If you need to confess, you can talk to god on your own.
I mean really, a checklist?
oh, and god doesn't need an iphone...he/she hears everything already.
What if someone kills someone and confesses to this app?? What do you do with that? Like, confessions are supposed to be confidential. This just doesn't make sense to me.
ReplyDeletePlus... where is that $1.99 going?? :P ugh.
This is completly unprofessional, do peolpe not have enough time to go to church.... is technology really consuming our lives so much where we only go tochurch on our i-pods, phones.... im pretty sure if a church wasnt convienient to you, you shouldnt be going it is all about how you get connected with god not connected on your i-pod... and also with the $1.99 like really, guess thats counts for the charity we are talking about in your class, solookat that it even conviniences you that you dont have to give, how dumb... to me this app would be a total waste, IF YOUR SO INCONVINIENCED TO GO TO A CHURCH A LITTLE BIT FARTHER DONT SAY THAT YOU ARE RELIGIOUSE BY HAVING A APP IN YOUR PHONE!!!!
ReplyDeleteI think this app is completely unneccassary. Less people are going to church and confession anyways, now there is an app for confession. people are going to start saying " i confessed on my iphone today " there going to replace the app with accutaly going to confession and talking to the priest. Plus where does the money go to , just one church ? theres no privacy on things like that. Theres no security purposes. If someone sinned bad , the cops could hack on the app and see what people are writing and use it against them in court. Overall i dont think this app is a good app.
ReplyDeleteIs it really confidential when you leave an electronic footprint that can be traced? A simple subpoena from a court can open any phone conversations. it would only take one person to leave a phone accessible for someone to read and report any wrongdoing. If you use it for a confession, do so with caution.
ReplyDeletefrom Shannon's dad
This is pretty foolish, seeing how anyone can make an app for apple and android, maybe the church didn't make this app? Wouldn't they make it free if they did? Why charge money for something religion related? Perhaps someone else made this app that isn't even a part of the church or anything. It could just as well be someone trying to scam 2 dollars off random people who would fall for something like this, but then again it may be the church. I don't believe the church did this though.
ReplyDeletebeing non religious i think this particular event makes me loose complete faith in religion how can they scam people out of two dollars. this, to me seems outwardly rediculous.
ReplyDeletesorry for any spelling errors.
I think this is the most outrageous thing to hit the app store yet. I'm not religious at all but I think that making an app to be able to confess is pure laziness. You can't bring yourself to leave the house to confess. That's just wrong. I agree with what everyone else said about being able to trace back the confession. With technology so advanced today what are the chances of keeping that strictly confidential. I can't help but laugh at how ridiculous our society has become.
ReplyDelete-Tenley
SERIOUSLYYY?! What has the world come to? What would we do without technology! An app for this, an app for that...but a confession app, come on! I am catholic and i refuse to ever use something like this. The whole point of confession is to go in person, speak to the priest, and recieve advice on how to deal with the problem. To whoever came up with this app, it won't have too many buyers, guaranteed!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I really have no idea what to say. I find this is pointless. People really do rely to much on their phones. I wonder what would happen if phones were banned.? Would we be able to survive? I would but I don't know about all the others. I would rather go to confession. I hate going but I would rather do it in person.
ReplyDelete-Sarah R.