OXYGEN
21/04/2006, 15h11
Confess online!
Thur 13/04/06 - People in Flanders who don't have the time to go to the confessional before Easter have an alternative if they want to admit to their sins.
Sinners can go online at www.biechten.be and find out what they need to do to receive absolution.
The website was only party intended as a joke. It was set up in August 2004 and since then a million people have gone online to confess their sins.
Roman Catholics often like to go to confession before Easter and in some churches there may be a bit of a rush. The website sounds like a handy alternative.
The online service means that you can seek absolution from home or even from your office.
Pieter Barremaecker of Erpe-Mere in East Flanders who set up the website says that the number of people visiting www.biechten.be shot up in the period leading up to Easter.
How does it work?
Sinners are supposed to enter their sins on the website. One click of the mouse and you are told how many Hail Mary's and Our Fathers you have to recite.
One of our journalists, who had never been to confession before, tried it out. Theft required him to recite 50 Hail Mary's and 19 Our Fathers, while adultery resulted in only 30 Hail Mary's and 11 Our Fathers.
The website is not run in conjunction with the church authorities in Belgium.
Thur 13/04/06 - People in Flanders who don't have the time to go to the confessional before Easter have an alternative if they want to admit to their sins.
Sinners can go online at www.biechten.be and find out what they need to do to receive absolution.
The website was only party intended as a joke. It was set up in August 2004 and since then a million people have gone online to confess their sins.
Roman Catholics often like to go to confession before Easter and in some churches there may be a bit of a rush. The website sounds like a handy alternative.
The online service means that you can seek absolution from home or even from your office.
Pieter Barremaecker of Erpe-Mere in East Flanders who set up the website says that the number of people visiting www.biechten.be shot up in the period leading up to Easter.
How does it work?
Sinners are supposed to enter their sins on the website. One click of the mouse and you are told how many Hail Mary's and Our Fathers you have to recite.
One of our journalists, who had never been to confession before, tried it out. Theft required him to recite 50 Hail Mary's and 19 Our Fathers, while adultery resulted in only 30 Hail Mary's and 11 Our Fathers.
The website is not run in conjunction with the church authorities in Belgium.