New iPad App

New iPad application won't replace liturgical books, creator says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Are Catholics soon going to see their parish priest celebrating Mass with an iPad instead of traditional liturgical books? That's the impression left by recent reports about Italian Father Paolo Padrini's planned launch of an iPad application that features the Roman Missal on its 10-inch screen. But Father Padrini and church officials say no one should throw the printed books out yet. "Liturgical books on the altar will never be replaced by the iPad. This is an additional instrument, not an attempt to get rid of paper books," Father Padrini said in late June. "If I went on vacation, I'd take along my iPad and celebrate Mass that way. Obviously in my parish, where I have the books, I'm not going to deliberately use an iPad," he said. The application should be ready by the end of July and will feature the Roman Missal in various languages, including English, French, Italian, Latin and Spanish. It loads the missal and breviary, or book of prayers, for a particular day, with the option of pre-loading up to 10 days worth of texts. Father Padrini said that for the English version, he plans to use the missal text as currently approved for use in the United States. But he apparently has not yet nailed down the necessary permissions.

Victor Cuvo, Attorney at Law

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