Vatican nixes the idea of a virtual confessional

Senior Catholic Church officials in the UK and US gave the iPhone application “Confession: A Roman Catholic App” their seal of approval, but the Vatican had serious reservations. Agence France-Presse reported:

“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,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists.

“I must stress to avoid all ambiguity, under no circumstance is it possible to ‘confess by iPhone’,” he said.

It was created by Little iApps and is on sale for $1.99 via iTunes. According to the Los Angeles Times, developer Patrick Leinen says he worked “with the Rev. Thomas Weinandy of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Rev. Dan Scheidt, pastor of Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Mishawaka, Ind:”

He said he was inspired by a papal message in January in which the pope asked “that young people may learn to use modern means of social communication for their personal growth and to better prepare themselves to serve society.”

With all of that official assistance, why did no remember that on January 24, Pope Benedict XVI said:

It is important always to remember that virtual contact cannot and must not take the place of direct human contact with people at every level of our lives.