For Catholics of a certain age, absolution was a weekly ritual. Confessing one’s sins in the privacy of a dark cubicle is a tradition of the religion that exists to this day.
So for those Catholics on the go, an archbishop from Scotland launched a new smartphone and tablet app on Tuesday that enables parishioners to find a confessional. The Catholic app is nicknamed “Sindr” because it uses the same software as dating app Tinder. Sindr is expected to go live in early 2017, according to Vatican Radio. The idea was inspired by Pope Francis’ designation of 2016 as the Extraordinary Year of Jubilee.
“The idea was really inspired by the Holy Father himself,” Edinburgh’s Archbishop Leo Cushley, who announced the launch, told Vatican Radio. “He said to be imaginative about what to do for the Holy Year of Mercy.”
“I hope everyone’s going to use it.”
Cushley launched the app at St. Peter’s in Rome and called it “a smart bit of technology.” He told The Telegraph that the app could impact “how the Catholic Church brings the mercy of God and the joy of the Gospel to our contemporary world.”
Support real journalism. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today. See offers.
Your subscription to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution funds in-depth reporting and investigations that keep you informed. Thank you for supporting real journalism.