Who needs a confession booth when you have an iPhone?
An iPhone app aimed at helping Catholics through confession and encouraging lapsed followers back to the faith has been sanctioned by the Catholic Church in the United States.
Confession: A Roman Catholic app, thought to be the first to be approved by a church authority, walks Catholics through the sacrament and contains what the company behind the program describes as a “personalized examination of conscience for each user”.
The Anchoress notes that the app has not been approved by the Vatican, only given an imprimatur by Bishop Kevin Rhoades, of the Diocese of Fort Wayne in Indiana.
As a Baptist I only recognize two sacraments—baptism and communion—but I’m firmly against having either of them administered by smartphone (immersion baptism and iPhones definitely don’t mix).
Do Catholics feel differently about confession? Does this Confession app seem like a wise application of a sacrament?
UPDATE: Numerous readers have pointed out that the application is merely a tool for the examination of the conscience and not an administration of the sacrament.
February 9th, 2011 | 9:07 am
I don’t think it is a substitute for confession, it just helps prepare you for it. If that is the case, then it seems like a good idea, though I can see how it could be misconstrued as making confession.
February 9th, 2011 | 9:16 am
I don’t think this app sounds substantially different from a piece of paper explaining what confession is, what prayers are said, and listing the 10 Commandments (and perhaps other moral principles).
February 9th, 2011 | 9:18 am
Not being Catholic either I can’t say for sure, but my understanding is that this is an opportunity for confession in a pastoral sense, but is not the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Joe, being a Baptist who recognizes even two sacraments puts you ahead of some. Plenty of Baptists will insist they’re “ordinances,” not sacraments. That’s probably based on a belief that there isn’t a Protestant theology of sacrament and that Catholicism “owns” the meaning of the word, which is incorrect.
February 9th, 2011 | 9:19 am
I would not call it an “application of a sacrament,” rather, a preparation for entering into the sacrament. It is essentially the same thing as a little pamphlet or book that many parishes use to help people to examine their conscience before they confess. It really is no big deal.
In your example, it wouldn’t be used for baptism, but perhaps as a preparation for baptism, perhaps going over what the person’s church believes that baptism is and means, or as a devotional book.
February 9th, 2011 | 9:20 am
It’s just an examination of conscience, not an administration of the sacrament. The article says that pretty clearly.
February 9th, 2011 | 9:22 am
As a Catholic, my first thought was that this has to be some sort of heresy.
However, upon further reflection, it seems less and less like a black and white issue. In a world where Doctors can make diagnosis over Skype, care of the soul is certainly not limited to in-person visits.
As Catholics should remember- plenary indulgences following the Urbi et Orbi are specifically designated as able to transfer through the television and radio. I’m sure this was a debate at the dawn of the Information age.
So, I think that the real question falls to the priest on the other end of the line- if he has prepared and is wearing the purple, I’m going to give this one my imprimatur as well.
February 9th, 2011 | 9:34 am
Your post moved me to read an article on this app, written by a priest who obviously knows what he is talking about.
The new app is all perfectly legit, and does not replace any essential elements of the beautiful Sacrament of Reconciliation (aka Sacrament of Penance, or Confession.) One still must present oneself in person to the priest and conduct each step specified for the sacrament as always.
What the app really does is to give a person a high-tech instruction in each step of the process. In this, it is no different in kind from the hundreds and hundreds of printed instructions in the sacrament which have always been used by us Catholics.
Incidentally, this is all in keeping with B XVI’s encouragement to Catholic leaders to use all the tools available, including the modern electronic media, for the sake of the faith and the common good.
Thanks, Joe, for your concern about proper sacramental practice!
February 9th, 2011 | 9:34 am
It is not a sacrament or a substitute for a sacrament. Google “examination of conscience”. Examinations are just documents that help you prepare for going to confession.
February 9th, 2011 | 9:39 am
Joe Carter wrote: Do Catholics feel differently about confession? Does this Confession app seem like a wise application of a sacrament?
Absolutely, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, often called Confession, is live and not virtual. As I understand it, the app is there to help one prepare for the sacrament. It’s not an attempt to administer the sacrament over the ether. In addition to the examination of conscience, the app will help you find the confession schedule for a nearby parish. One hope is that the app will be an avenue toward sacramental re-engagement for Catholics who have “fallen away.” For more info, see see http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1100408.htm
One bishop’s imprimatur allows the app to proceed as a kind of experiement, one that doesn’t compromise the integrity of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. After a time, we’ll know if this is a prudent use of social media.
February 9th, 2011 | 9:40 am
It’s an aid to examining one’s conscience in preparation for going to confession, not a means of receiving the sacrament itself. From what I’ve seen, this app does the same thing that books and pamphlets have done for years and years, i.e., offer specific questions that prompt consideration of one’s thoughts and words, acts and failures to act, which is done before one enters the confessional. I gather that it focuses on different questions for different users, based on personal characteristics (age, sex, marital state, etc.), which is really no different than selecting an examination of conscience book geared to one’s particular situation, e.g., one for teens, or mothers, or businessmen, etc. Reading the books or using the app and seriously reflecting on one’s life is great, but it’s not the sacrament. I gather that those who developed the app know that, and Bishop Rhoades certainly knows that. Too bad some headline writers and reporters either don’t know or don’t care enough to treat it seriously.
February 9th, 2011 | 9:41 am
I think the Anchoress’ fear that it will replace confession is overblown. For the group of Catholics that actually go to confession (a subset of churchgoers unfortunately), there is little chance that they will see an iphone app replacing the actual experience. I would think they would use it as they do the paper guides that most parishes give out already.
February 9th, 2011 | 9:47 am
Joe,
I haven’t seen the app — I’m decidedly not cool enough to own an iPhone, though my grandmother has one, so make of that what you will — but what you’ve described is not the administration of the sacrament of confession — which could never be administered via app. Rather, it appears to be a tool to help make going to confession more effective and less daunting.
One of the general requirements for a good confession is for the penitent to have made an examination of conscience beforehand; confession forgives all sins, including ones not confessed due to accidental ommission, but the penitent needs to make an honest effort to recall everything. Sheets or lists of common sins or categories of sins to help make a thorough examination have been common for centuries; it appears — especially after reading the Anchoress post to which you linked — that this app is a fairly thorough, interactive examination.
The deficiencies she notes are possibly real enough. But all it is is an interactive examination of conscience, something a penitent typically does outside of the confessional anyway. It isn’t an application of the sacrament and it doesn’t grant absolution.
February 9th, 2011 | 10:41 am
Hey Joe, Do Baptists have a fixed liturgy for Baptism, beyond the fundamental, “I baptize you in the the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost?” If yes, imagine an iPod app that included that liturgy with a description of its meaning and instructions on how to prepare. That is what is being offered here. The personalized aspect, I imagine, is a series of questions based around the Decalogue. If you answer yes to the top level question, you get more detailed questions to help you think through your sins before you confess to a priest.
I can’t imagine using an iPod to read at Mass. Even a Kindle is a bit small. But maybe an iPad? There’s nothing sacrilegious there, just the visual presence and tradition behind a book lectionary. But there was a time when the transition was made from scrolls to books. I may be mistaken but I believe many (most?) Jews still use a scroll for the Torah.
February 9th, 2011 | 11:35 am
Without having tested the product, it does seem like a fantastic idea.
Evangelization and administration of the faith must take full advantage of the advances in technology. Of course, as with any new technology, there are dangers in misappropriating it and losing the essence of one’s primary purpose. Benedict’s recent guidance in this matter is wise.
I don’t know: can a priest hear confession over a telephone? I do know that it doesn’t require a church or a confessional, just a place of focused communication.
In any event, mystical body of Christ, embrace the new avenues of transmitting the Gospel! Google (or YouTube) Father Barron and Word on Fire to witness a fantastic example of this embrace of technology. This First Things website is another example of proclaiming the unchanging message through innovated media, is it not?
This week we heard proclaimed a continuation of Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount. In the homily that followed our priest took note of the physical contours of the hillside, where Jesus’s voice could carry a stentorian distance without aid. In this millennium we are blessed with the mother of all megaphones — the multimedia internet. What better “content provider” than the Good News itself?
More than any other sacrament, confession has been left behind, a presumed relic of an earlier age. For that reason alone we should seek ways to bring it back into people’s lives, to remind them of its salutary importance.
We are still individuals in severe psychological need to confess our sins. But because substitutes like Dr. Phil have seized the most ubiquitous technological platform of their era, we unload our burden to inadequate secular shamans. The next platform, the internet, is still up for grabs, but even that vacuum is already being filled by untutored opportunists:
http://e-admit.com/
Neither a rejection of iPhone app technology nor an uncritical embrace of it will suffice. Magisterial adoption of these unprecedented means of communication could bring light to the darkest places in creation.
February 9th, 2011 | 9:06 pm
There are two misconceptions floating around on the internet about this app.
The first–the misconception that the app is anything more than a pamphlet examination of conscience transferred onto a digital screen–is already addressed by several commenters above.
The second misconception is that the Catholic Church has “endorsed” the app. In fact, the app simply received an “imprimatur” from one bishop in Indiana. An “imprimatur” is, in a nutshell, a bishop’s statement that a book (or in this case, an app) that receives the imprimatur is free of doctrinal error. A statement that a book or app is free of doctrinal error is NOT the same thing as an endorsement. There are thousands of books out there with imprimaturs, and yet the media (correctly) doesn’t claim each and every book that receives the imprimatur is “endorsed” or “official” Church teaching.
Of course, asking reporters to take a minute to understand these distinctions is far, far too much too ask when the reporter has the chance to grab a few facts, throw in a little inaccuracy and shock value, and drive up reader hit counts.
This situation is simply example #10,245 of the mainstream media’s inability to accurately report on any religious issue.
February 9th, 2011 | 10:34 pm
If this blogger had actually read about the app they would know it’s not a tool for confession, but no different from any of the many books, pamphlets, brochures and wallet cards that walk you through the examination of conscience in preparation for the confessional. This blogger is more interested in attacking the Catholic church than in getting the facts correct and making an informed review.
February 10th, 2011 | 1:47 am
In her book called Confession, Adrienne von Speyr writes that reading a written list of sins in confession doesn’t work because it prevents the spontaneity that is necessary for an openness to the action of the sacrament. I thought when I read this, only days ago, who would write down their sins and read them in confession anymore? Now this.
The book Pardon and Peace suggests too that penitents commonly overemphasize the examination of conscience. Our conscience generally accuses us quite well, during the time it takes us to stand in line, of the times we gave full consent with knowledge of what we were doing. Neither is the examination, which should be brief, meant to be a self-course in moral theology or a fishing expedition for the scrupulous or the perverse. The penitent should move on to formulating true sorrow and then a firm purpose of amendment–which the app apparently does not address at all (how could it?).
The imprimatur from Fort Wayne is unfortunate because these errors are those of omission and because the content of the app, even if error-free, is ripe for misuse. People today cannot remember the state capitals or spell common words, relying on Google and spell-check-as-you-type. Now would-be penitents will be outsourcing the recollection of their own acts to the memory in the phone, an act of psychologically distancing oneself from one’s sins, exactly the opposite of the intent of the examen. For it is Christ who separates us from our sins, at the price of the Cross.
Finally, von Speyr comments that the penitent should approach the sacrament aware that absolution is not guaranteed, that the priest may bind as well as loose. Is there a BIND subroutine for that “option” in the iPhone app? Or is the unconscious bias, already well represented in our day, in favor of presuming on God’s mercy, issuing forth like water when one turns a spigot, or touches a button on a little screen?
February 10th, 2011 | 11:47 am
[...] I wasn’t the only person on this side of the Tiber who misunderstood the new Confession iPhone app. Mark D. Roberts, one of my favorite Presbyterian pastors, was also leery—until he tried it out [...]
February 10th, 2011 | 3:54 pm
A bad Anglican, I’ve never been to Confession. I do pray through an Examination of Conscience periodically, though. I found the body of its text in a book of Anglican prayers, typed it into my laptop, and added some lines from Roman Catholic sources and some updates for the information age to make it better suit my stage in life. It can be helpful to mark in the computer file I created those areas where I’m struggling, so when I return to the Examination, I can see if I’ve learned to flee common temptations.
Touching on others’ comments: Such Examinations are an ancient practice. The book I used actually recommends making notes of one’s sins to better be able to remember them in the confessional.
To Mrs. Scalia’s concerns, I think we need to beware making the perfect the enemy of the good. Finding that old book’s Examination of Conscience and instructions on going to Confession made me more, not less, likely to finally go, even if it has yet to complete the job. It gave me information and preparation tools about this most hidden of Sacraments. As an Anglican, I couldn’t just look it up in our Catechism. But the breadth of the Roman Catholic Church’s Catechism can make it almost as difficult for a shy or ignorant Roman Catholic to obtain the relevant information in his Church as it would be for me to obtain the information in my Church.
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