'Sindr', the Vatican's new confession finder app
What's the story
In an attempt to engage with the "mobile generation", Archbishop Leo Cushley from the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, announced "The Catholic App" outside St. Peter's Basilica yesterday.
Inevitably dubbed "Sindr" by media houses and online commentators, the app is set to go live in early 2017, according to the Vatican Radio.
We take a look at what the app offers.
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Archbishop Leo Cushley on the app
Archbishop Leo Cushley described the app to be "a little bit of smart technology that could make a big impact on how the Catholic Church brings the mercy of God and the joy of the Gospel to our contemporary world".
Sindr
What is the Catholic App all about?
The Catholic App will be developed and launched by Scottish technology company, Musemantik.
The app will let users search for the nearest confessional, Holy Mass and diocesanal statistics, and thus would guide faithful Catholic Christians to their nearest Catholic Church.
Dr Maciej Zurawski, the founder and CEO of Musemantik, said that he hopes other Catholic dioceses around the world would purchase the new app.
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The Vatican hails the launch of the app
"I congratulate Archbishop Cushley for being so imaginative in responding to the Holy Father's call to bring the mercy of God to modern society by means of modern communications," said Monsignor Viganò, Prefect of the Vatican's Secretariat for Communication.
Conception
Who came up with the idea for the app?
The Archbishop of Edinburgh, Leo Cushley, who announced the app, said that, "The idea was really inspired by the Holy Father [Pope Francis] himself. He said to be imaginative about what to do for the Holy Year of Mercy".
Cushley further stated that the app would not only be a "spiritual one, it will also be a practical one".