A new smartphone application has been developed in the US which would
help the faithful to confess their sins wherever their priest is.The new app lets busy Catholic priests update their statuses to let people know when and where they are available to listen to their confessions.
Fr. Richard Heilman in Madison, Wisconsin, is launching a My Confessor App that will let his parishioners know when and where he is available to listen to their sins.
App developer Mary Hoerr said that a red status box means 'Father is OUT' and a green status box means 'Father is IN'.
He said that the priests have a special log in that lets them easily update their statuses and even post messages, New York Daily News reported.
The app also has a section explaining the sacrament of confession, as well as another place where users can read priests' bios.
Fr. Heilman is the only priest on the app for now but he says several other priests have reached out and asked to get involved.
The app currently serves people in the Madison area but the priest feel that the facility is going to get popular.
The number of Catholic priests in America has declined in recent decades, according to a data collected by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.
In 1965, more than 58,000 Catholic priests belonged to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. In 2012, that number was closer to 39,000.
On the other hand, the number of people who self-identify as Catholics has grown from 48.5 million to 78.2 million.
"It's challenging sometimes for priests to find time for confession because they have work to do. And parishioners are trying to go easy on priests because they see us trying to handle multiple things," Fr. Heilman said.