Power on your iPhone and go to the App Store and you just might get a sign from God. Well, actually, not quite, but there is a new app that has officially been endorsed by the Catholic Church in the United States.
Confession: A Roman Catholic App is aimed at those who may have lapsed in going to their church’s actual confessions, and helps to encourage keeping that faith alive at any time, anywhere.
The app was developed by a tiny company called Little iApps based in South Bend, Indiana, and is believed to be the first mobile app to receive an official sanction from a church authority.
“Our desire is to invite Catholics to engage in their faith through digital technology,” said Little iApps’s Patrick Leinen, one of the three men who run the company.
The app comes as Pope Benedict XVI has encouraged people to come up with ways to keep faith alive in the digital age, where fewer and fewer people are showing up to church.
The app was developed in collaboration with several church officials, including two reverends, a pastor, and even a bishop. Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne is the one who gave the app the official Catholic seal of approval.
Leinen noted the app has already brought one man back to the church after 20 years away from the sacrament.
“We hope many more will take advantage of this new confession resource,” he said.
Unfortunately, there is a price for all that peace of mind. The app sells for $1.99.
