Faith on Your Phone

A new iPhone app for Catholics.

“A new iPhone app called Ignio is designed to help Catholics deepen their faith by featuring a digital flame that grows and shrinks according to how much the user prays for friends, attends Mass or reads Scripture,” reported Catholic News Agency last month.

“It enables Millennials and others to connect, ignite and unite their faith through a technology portal,” developer Andres Ruzo said. It’s a project of We Do Believe, a Catholic evangelization organization.

Users must physically “bump” iPhones with someone else who has the program to activate the program and “light” the candle. The iPhone application is free on iTunes. Users join “small prayer circles no larger than 12 people. They can ‘check in’ each time they participate in religious activities, notifying those in their circle about their actions,” the article reported. “Each action grows the digital candle’s flame by a preset amount. Users can also share prayer intentions on a prayer wall and read a private report about their past actions.”

Said Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas of the new app, “I applaud the efforts of these faithful Catholics to join our Holy Father in using technology to evangelize, and I appreciate their work to bring all of us, especially young people, a very relevant way to deepen our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.”