The Vatican have moved to clear confusion regarding the launch of an iPhone ‘confession’ app, which has been sanctioned by the Catholic Church in the United States.
A Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, stated that technology could never replace personal presence when confessing sins to a priest.
"One cannot speak in any way of confessing via iPhone," Father Lombardi said, before emphasising that confession required the presence of both priest and penitent.
"This cannot be substituted by any IT application," added Lombardi.
It has now been made clear that the application, which made news throughout the globe upon its launch, is not designed to replace going to confession but rather to assist Catholics through the act.
The app guides Catholics through the sacrament and contains what is described as a "personalised examination of conscience for each user."