Catholic Church launches ‘Sindr’ app to help people find nearest mass

Catholic worshippers in Edinburgh and St Andrews will soon be able to use an app to locate their nearest mass.

The Catholic App will tell users where the nearest or soonest service is and use GPS to direct them to the church.

The first “confession finder” app is part of a growing trend for churches to use technology to attract and assist congregations.

The app, which has inevitably been dubbed “Sindr” by some media and online commentators will be launched early next year by the archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, with another five dioceses in Scotland said to be interested in purchasing the technology from developers Musemantik.

St Andrews and Edinburgh covers an area of about 2,000 sq miles, containing more than 110 parishes. The app will provide data on the timings and locations of masses and other events.

Unveiling the app at the Vatican, where he is leading a pilgrimage, the Most Rev Leo Cushley, archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, said: "This is 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."

Falkirk priest Father Jamie Boyle, who was also in Rome for the launch, said he believes the app will prove popular.

He said: “During the Jubilee Year of Mercy there was a discernible upturn in the number of people keen to return to confession but not sure where or when to find it.

“This app will really help people to answer both those question and I hope parish priests around the world find it useful in evangelising their local communities.

“Also, people often prefer to go to the sacrament of reconciliation to a priest they don’t know — for example, many folk travel to our big, town centre parish to go to confession — and so this app makes it much easier to find that anonymity in another parish if you so choose.”

Musemantik, a Scottish technology company, said it hoped Catholic dioceses around the world would buy the app. Maciej Zurawski, its founder, said: “Websites are losing popularity - what is needed to engage with the mobile generation is an app that is smart and personal, an app that is like a companion, a friend that takes the initiative to inspire you - that’s the vision behind the Catholic App.”

Agencies