A screenshot of the website for the My Confessor app, where the faithful will be able to keep up digitally with when their local priest is hearing confession. (FoxNews.com / myconfessor.org)
Got a hankering to repent? There will soon be an “app” for that.
A Roman Catholic prelate from Wisconsin will become the first priest to log on to a soon-to-debut smartphone application that seemingly renders the good ole’ fashioned church bulletin as outmoded as medieval indulgences, The New York Daily News reports.
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According to the paper, the so-called My Confessor App will allow the faithful to keep up digitally with when their local priest is hearing confession, or the sacrament wherein Catholics recount sins to a “confessor” who, in turn, doles out penance, usually in the form of prayers.
“I want people to not feel uncomfortable asking about confession,” the Rev. Richard Heilman told the paper. “We want everybody ignited in the Holy Spirit.”
When accessed, the app will reportedly portray a red status box, which means “Father is OUT,” or a green status box meaning, “Father is IN.” It also includes a description of Reconciliation, as well as related tips.
Heilman, The News reports, formulated -- and then financed out of his own pocket -- the idea to not only make it more convenient for Catholics to know when they can do “Confession” at their local church, but to better advertise the increasingly limited time the dwindling number of busy priests spend in the confessional.
And there are plenty of priests, nationwide, whose interest Heilman has reportedly piqued with word of the app's imminent arrival.
The app will be available for the iPhone and Android by the end of the month, according to The News, and the app’s development updates can be found at myconfessor.org.
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