Mobile App Receives First Ever Holy “iBlessing”

Mobile technology has reached a new high today following the news that a mobile app has received holy approval.

In what is thought to be a world first, the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide, Father Philip Marshall, has blessed a walking tour app that provides users with a guide through the life of Australia’s first and only saint, Mary MacKillop.

The ‘iBlessing’ (pictured below) was not just limited to the Adelaide Explorer app, but also extended to both a smartphone and iPad running it, making the latter perhaps the first holy tablet since Moses came down from Mount Sinai.

Blessed

Available on both iOS and Android, the blessed app offers twelve walking tours around the city of Adelaide, where MacKillip became known for her work in South Australia’s Catholic community during the 1800s to improve rural education.

Formally known as Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, she was beatified in 1995 by Pope John Paul II and was canonised on October 17, 2010.

The app was designed by Sister Patricia Keane, who said she hoped it will encourage more people to learn about Saint Mary MacKillop by visiting sites she was connected to, such as schools and churches.

“I think it’s putting Mary a little bit more out there to say look she was real, she walked our streets, and hopefully people can see that she was an ordinary woman who walked around trying to do her best for people,” Sister Patricia said.

“First and foremost it celebrates the life and achievements of Mary MacKillop, who was of course a former city of Adelaide resident,” added Adelaide Lord Mayor Martin Haese

“So Adelaide City Council and the city of Adelaide can claim her as our own, which is terrific.”

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