Snapchat may wipe away your messages after a period of time, but don’t count on it to wipe away your sins.
A man in the San Antonio, Texas who goes by “@Priest David” is hearing confessions via Snapchat through March 16. News 4 San Antonio interviewed the man, who said he has been a priest for 23 years and started taking the Snapchat sacrament as a way to help a college student with a class project.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous released a statement to News Radio 1200 WOAI said religion needs to “engage young adults, where they are and how they live.”
Catholics interviewed for the piece expressed outrage, saying you’re not repenting unless you confess to a priest face to face or behind a screened divider.
“It’s not confession,” the Rev. Tony Vilano told News 4. “He’s not a Catholic priest. You can do Snapchat . . . and list everything you’ve done and there’s no humility in there. There’s no ownership of the sins you’ve committed.”
Archdiocese of San Antonio Deacon Pat Rodgers released a statement, saying the church is not involved in the confessions, “so, in essence, the Father has gone rogue.”
“It is a conversation between you and that priest, and within that there is spiritual guidance,” Rodgers told WOAI. “Person to person confession is the bedrock of what the Sacrament looks like and feels like.”