Talk of churches embracing the digital revolution and the Catholic Church in the United States is not to be left behind. If you have a Smartphone that runs on iOS or Android, you can now download the USA Catholic Church app, the first one of its kind, and access all the Church’s information on your screen.
Designed to help bring Catholics closer to their faith, this is the only app that furnishes you with all the information from parishes and dioceses in the United States. It also gives you the whereabouts of bishops based in the United States and the Vatican.
This is the app to download if you want religious news, daily Scripture readings and your local parish content. And if you are looking forward to the upcoming Pope Francis visit, it might interest you to know that the app will have an exclusive and in-depth coverage of the visit.
According to Bishop Christopher Coyne, who doubles up as the chair-elect of the Committee on Communications of the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops, this is the most comprehensive virtual connection to the Catholic faith that you can lay your hands on at the moment.
The Bishop says that the app will allow people to connect with the church more, particularly those that are leading a busy life.
The app’s content comes in English and Spanish languages and allows its users to:
Follow the Pope with all the latest news and communication that include photos and videos
Access exclusive features such as Catholic News Service updates, view daily readings and make mobile donations as well as sharing sermons on social media
Apart from the Pope’s United States visit, the app will also give an exclusive coverage of his address to the joint session of the Congress and the United Nations. It will also offer an up to the minute coverage of the Pope’s public address at the World Meeting of Families.
The church plans to include new parish and diocese functionalities to the app by October. These will allow users to access contacts to the parish, Mass confessions, blog posts, bulletins and confession times. It will also help the users locate the nearest local church at home or when travelling.
The USA Catholic Church app is downloadable at www.USACatholic.church from your tablet or mobile device. It is free and is available in the Spanish and English versions.