IMPORTANT about the Confessional, Your Phone, and … Who Knows?

At the National Catholic Register there is a story about how the Bishop of Lincoln has told priests, “NO PHONES in the Confessional”.

HERE

Bishop James Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, formalized a new policy this year banning priests from using their smartphones in the confessional.

The fact is, these phones are really sophisticated and you can never quite shut them down. And they are listening. They are sensing your movements. They are watching through lenses. They do these things to know when to “wake up” for use, or to shovel ads at you. I saw a couple of videos recently on what they phones do when they are “asleep” or “turned off”.

Dear friends.. if priests should not take phones into confessionals, then NEITHER SHOULD YOU!

Please please please… GO TO CONFESSION!

Leave your phone in the trunk of your car.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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16 Comments

  1. Jim Dorchak says:

    There is nothing like a RING TONE at the consecration to get your blood boiling!

  2. PatS says:

    Your devices are ALWAYS listening to you, recording and sending back to server and stored forever.
    Even when you phone is off, it is “on”.
    Am I wearing a tin hat foolishly or for good reason?
    You decide but get informed!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6-axLHh5V8

  3. Lurker 59 says:

    Yes, of course. It is necessarily how electronic devices function. We should not be surprised that a voice-activated device is always listening nor if a device with biometric recognition is always checking for biometrics. Nor should we be worried about “tracking” and “cookies” on the internet. Such stuff is needed for the internet to work. (Incognito Mode just means that you cannot see it and your local history is removed on exit (it still exists, and is retrievable, while the browser is open, btw.)). VPNs just add extra steps and additional systems and admins to the chain.

    The existence of databases is not the problem, it is how they are leveraged. If you get rid of all the electronic databases, you just revert to the pen and paper ones. We should pay more attention to how things are being leveraged.

    ———
    In terms of the penitent having an electronic device: What is better? A pen and paper confession list or one typed out on one’s phone? I know of more than one priest that quite “disliked” my pen and paper list because someone could retrieve it from the trash. The electronic one is never out of my possession — the “trashed” bytes remain physically with me.

  4. Crysanthmom says:

    …and invest in a phone faraday pouch/bag. Father, maybe a link to one via your Amazon store?

  5. Kenneth Wolfe says:

    Hopefully this will spur some culture change, as I have noticed even traditional-leaning Catholics leaving their liturgical books on the shelf while relying on a phone for Mass propers and prayers inside church. Please do the opposite.

  6. I’ll shut it off first.

  7. NavyVet says:

    Would y’all feel comfortable if, when you went in to the confessional, you saw an Amazon Alexa softly glowing in the corner? Your phone is literally no different.

    Harsh take, but priests that take their phones into the confessional with them should be charged with violating the seal. Absolutely unacceptable.

  8. Thomas Stewart says:

    Perhaps a tasteful wooden drawer lined with a signal (and sound) blocking material in the confessional? Prevents broadcast and recording, and gives a nice place to sit explanatory materials for the uncertain.

    (And every Bishop should make a “discreet cough” ringtone available to all. Even if someone forgets to turn the phone off, the sound won’t distract.)

  9. TheCavalierHatherly says:

    If someone is tasked to spy on me, they really drew the short straw.

  10. maternalView says:

    I recently saw a priest after morning prayer pull out his phone, look at it then retreat into the sacristy. How I hoped he left his phone back there before he came out to do confessions!

  11. summorumpontificum777 says:

    “Gratias tibi” to Fr Z for raising this issue. I must admit that I never thought about this before and have had a “powered on” phone in my pocket in the confessional. Hope that the folks at Apple and/or the NSA enjoyed the show!

  12. Dan says:

    This has been my practice for a number of years now to leave my phone outside the confessional. I have had too many occasions where I have received emails for a product to purchase after only simply mentioning it in conversation.
    In fact this evening our kids were all in competitive bantir about how many pushups they could do when my wife’s computer pulled up photo memories of my doing pushups. Weird. We are always being listened to now.

  13. I would like to offer an alternative perspective to this discussion.
    I am visually impaired and I travel to my parish using Uber or Lyft. One of the reasons why I bring my smart phone with me is that I use it in the vehicle when I’m going home, to know when I’m getting close to my house by using a GPS app. I also use the AIRA visual interpretation app
    http://www.aira.io
    after Mass to help me identify the Lyft vehicle as it approaches and to assist me in locating the back seat passenger door so that I can then verify the identity of the driver. While I’d be willing to power off my phone while I’m in the confessional, I am not willing too give my phone to a parishioner while I’m in there and, for the reasons I’ve already mentioned, leaving my phone at home is not an option. Powering down a smart phone is generally secure enough that you don’t need to worry about it actually being able to hear and/or record sounds, unless your phone was physically implanted with a listening device.
    I am sympathetic with priests or bishops requesting or even insisting that parishioners power down their smart phones while in the confessional but asking them to not bring them into the confessional at all may not be possible. Father, you ask us to leave the phone in the trunk of our car but what about those of us, blind or sighted, who don’t travel to our parish by car but instead use some other form of transportation?
    There are also some blind people who may wish too use their smart phone with a Braille display to follow along with the Mass readings. I’m not one of them but I think this also should be considered.

  14. Lurker 59 says:

    There is a lot of consternation about devices spying on one. (To what end though? To sell you the widgets that you are interested in?) You can check your internet traffic to see if they are actually spying on you.

    Let me point something out: The demonic are constantly listening to us, constantly spying on us. They are listening for careless words which they will use against us. How often do we REALLY pay attention to what comes from our lips? How often do we really forget who is listening? If we are careless in our speech around Alexa, we might her some music we didn’t intend. If we are careless in our speech, the devils very well might present us with precisely that near occasion of sin that is precisely tailored to us so as to ensnare us.

  15. David: Welcome to my combox.

    When I write of these things I write for the general, not for the specific (which would be impossible). Some who does not have a car might also protest that I recommended the trunk. Most, however, do have cars and are well-sighted, and don’t need to rely on the amazing tool that is their always-listening smart phone.

    In a case like yours, it could be good to get one of those small signal blocking bags for your phone just for your confessional moments. I have a couple, as a matter of fact.

    Best.

  16. Father, I wasn’t aware of the existence of bags which deliberately blocked signals going to and from cell phones. This is an accessory I would certainly be willing to purchase and use. Thank you for making me aware of this. I’ll definitely investigate this.

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