"My confession..." Part 1

I've been playing with a borrowed Apple ipad and exploring it how it can enhance teaching. I've enjoyed the personal applications as well (book readers, recipe files, games, and educational tools like the NASA app.) Whatever your interest, as the guys from Apple would say "there's an app for that." Yes, I know a few reps and they do say that.

Now as tech blogger EnGadget writes: "Are you a sinner? There is an app for that." You might have seen the news story about the Catholic church's Confession app? For my non-Catholic readers, Confession, or more specifically the Sacrament of Penance, is a ritual of confessing one's sins before God, and seeking forgiveness, pardon and restoration. In the Roman Catholic tradition, the priest hears confessions and grants absolution. Though most protestant Christian groups do not believe in confession to a priest, it is noteworthy that the New Testament does direct believers to "confess your sins to each other and prayer for each other." Confession and restoration are important themes in the Bible so this app might be a natural.

The iTunes blurb: "Designed to be used in the confessional, this app is the perfect aid for every penitent. With a personalized examination of conscience for each user, password protected profiles, and a step-by-step guide to the sacrament, this app invites Catholics to prayerfully prepare for and participate in the Rite of Penance." Whoa there confessors! It is not a short cut out of the confessional. The Vatican stresses it is an aid to confession, and not a substitute for confession. The creators got a little ahead of themselves here, but it has become immensely popular since its debut over a month ago. It is the only religion app in the Top 10 of iTunes. And like all things religious, it has also caused controversy.

What do I think about this? Is this just another depersonalizing of faith? The creators argue that it is helping people reconnect with the church. Is it making practicing your faith easy? Should it be easy? Is it another manifestation of worship online.

Well, one way to find out: tomorrow I taking this app for a test run, and you can join me in the cyber confessional....