Catholic iPhone app helps you confess your homosexual sins on the go
A Catholic iPhone app has been designed – that allows users to confess to sins without needing to see a priest.
The app, Confession, is intended to allow busy Catholics to get things off their conscience – featuring a detailed “examination” as well as custom-generated Penance and prayers.
It works with iPhones and includes password-protected profiles – with the app helpfully asking users: “Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?”
However, it has not found favour with Apple or the Catholic church – despite being created in collaboration with Revrend Thomas G Weinandy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Reverend Dan Scheidt of Peace Catholic Church in Mishawaka.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said: “It is essential to understand that the rites of penance require a personal dialogue between penitents and their confessor… It cannot be replaced by a computer application.
“I must stress to avoid all ambiguity, under no circumstance is it possible to ‘confess by iPhone’.”
Meanwhile, the app also faces a hurdle with Apple – with the company’s Terms of Service banning actively anti-gay apps.
The company previously pulled an app which rails against gay marriage and LGBT rights.
The app, created by a Christian group, disappeared from the online store after media attention, first reported on PinkNews.co.uk.
It was based on the Manhattan Declaration, a manifesto released in 2009 by Christian and Catholic leaders which rails against the “erosion” of marriage.