{"id":7883,"date":"2011-10-17T07:44:26","date_gmt":"2011-10-17T11:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/?p=7883"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:36:16","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:36:16","slug":"want-to-be-a-priest-theres-an-app-for-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/10\/want-to-be-a-priest-theres-an-app-for-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to be a priest? There's an app for that"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Church in Ireland has developed an innovative way to spread the word about vocations \u2014 one you can hold in the palm of your hand.<\/p>\n

Details: <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

An establishment viewed as a bastion of tradition is turning to a new app to encourage more \u201capplications.\u201d The app, says the church, is \u201cdesigned to promote vocations to the priesthood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It is being hailed as a \u201cworld first\u201d by the church in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe app is an original approach to assist current and future generations seeking to investigate and find information on vocations to the diocesan priesthood in Ireland,\u201d a statement issued ahead of the launch said.<\/p>\n

The number of new recruits to the priesthood has fallen sharply in the recent decades \u2013 and as Ireland has become engulfed in a series of child sex abuse scandals over the past few years.<\/p>\n

The situation led to a respected former Catholic bishop in Ireland to call for an end to clerical celibacy.<\/p>\n

Edward Daly, the retired bishop of Derry, said allowing clergymen to marry would ease many of the church\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n

Daly told CNN he was worried about the decreasing number of priests and the number of older priests.<\/p>\n

The issue \u201cneeds to be addressed and addressed urgently,\u201d Daly said, adding he found it \u201cheartbreaking\u201d priests were forced to resign or prospective priests were unable to join the priesthood because of the celibacy rule.<\/p>\n

The new \u2018Vocations\u2019 app was designed by Father Paddy Rushe and developed by the company Magic Time Apps, based in Dublin. It is available to download for free from the Apple iPhone App Store, said the church.<\/p>\n

Some of the features of the app, according to the church, are: Connection to Twitter and Facebook; Social networking at the service of vocations; Contact details and statistics on the 26 dioceses of Ireland; Frequently asked questions to assist a person to discern his vocation; News feed running from the national vocations website; Novel and cursory \u2018tests\u2019 to enable the user to reflect on vocation potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cFuture updates will include a \u201cprayer counter\u201d to allow people pledge a period of prayer for vocations and a picture gallery which will include some images from the life of a seminarian,\u201d the church statement said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more.<\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Church in Ireland has developed an innovative way to spread the word about vocations \u2014 one you can hold in the palm of your hand. Details: An establishment viewed as a bastion of tradition is turning to a new app to encourage more \u201capplications.\u201d The app, says the church, is \u201cdesigned to promote vocations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[11200],"class_list":["post-7883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vocations","tag-vocations"],"yoast_head":"\nWant to be a priest? There's an app for that<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Church in Ireland has developed an innovative way to spread the word about vocations -- one you can hold in the palm of your hand. 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