Pinoy invents confessional tool for deaf

MANILA, Philippines - Hearing impaired penitents would soon have a high-tech way of confessing their sins after a retired Filipino priest based in the United States invented a computer-based confessional tool just for them.

Fr. Romuald Zantua invented the St. Damien Confession Box to make the valued sacrament of reconciliation easily available to thousands of people with hearing problems, according to a post on CBCPNews, the news service provider of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

The St. Damien Confession Box is made up of two laptops running on special software and connected exclusively for the penitent and the priest to type on and send their messages to each other.

Both laptops only function for the intent it was created, not for other purposes.

Zantua said that priests not skilled in sign language would be able to communicate with deaf people using the chat function, with American Sign Language (ASL) instructions and videos.

The penitent and priest type in their messages and press the appropriate buttons in sequence following normal church practice.

Zantua said the software is hackproof since the device doesn’t allow a third party to connect, and other network connectivity such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are all disabled.

Deaf people have very limited options and accessibility to confession due to their disability and the limited number of priests who are skilled in sign language. They would either look for a priest who knows sign language or write their confession on papers and hand them to a priest.

Zantua said his invention would boost the practice of confession and may usher people with special needs to the Catholic Church’s gradual adoption of the new technology.

The use of the tool for confession, however, is still awaiting approval from the Holy See.