Link: https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/07/24/popes-official-prayer-app-commits-cardinal-sin-leaks-700k-users-info/5278603

I thought about saying "you know it's a grift when they collect personal information and leak it." According to their Bible, you don't need an app to pray. They say church (or a covenant, I forget, it's been 30+ years since I read the KJV) is when any two people come together to talk about Jesus (sorry!). So, where does an app fit in? And why does that app need your personally identifiable information (referred to as PII in industry). Wouldn't an all-knowing God already have it?

But you don't have to know it's a grift... I feel like this is proof the Vatican (or whoever made this app on their behalf, and thus speak on their behalf... and the Pope allegedly speaks on God's behalf) themselves know it's a grift. Because why would they need your PII?

I know, fools and their money are soon parted... just saw this on /all and figured the Fediverse's top Atheism comm should have it.

Who could have known that a permanent, online, confession database would be so risky?!?

I asked God for forgiveness, but all he said was "406".

Kind of admitting the lack of power prayer has, too. "But if I say a prayer and nobody sees it with my name attached, it's like I didn't pray at all." They don't get the validation they seek from god because he doesn't exist, so they must constantly reassure themselves and each other that their delusion-based rituals are actually great.

And, yeah. More cynical humans knowingly take advantage of these shortsighted attitudes. It's a huge, ancient grift taking not just money and information, but human lives for millennia. I would love to live to see the end of widespread superstition, a world where people are more honest because they realize it's best for everybody.

Yikes, an IDOR in 2026.

However, the Pope is not responsible for this app, he simply endorsed it.
The Vatican did not make this app, nor do the developers "speak on behalf" of the Vatican.

The email addresses are a part of basic login data tied to any functional account, but the names I think are a bit excessive

This is why you should physically go to Church and talk to a priest, any data online is data that people other than you and the priest can see (most of the time). Thus it is EXTREMELY hard to maintain the Seal of Confession online, but I dont think this was a confession app.

Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, enter into your room, and having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.

Or just don't indulge in deadly superstition. Churches are there to continue the grift. Wishful thinking can be a form of self-reflection, centering ourselves can help soothe unwanted emotional responses, but prayer is not magic. Thoughts and prayers only help the person who is thinking and praying. Action is required to produce measurable change in the world.

And what are we confessing for? Being the way god made us? This guilt-based emotional manipulation is killing people.

For our sins.

God gave us free will, but made us perfect. But, Adam and Eve committed the original sin when tempted by the serpent (satan).

We have no evidence for the existence of god or free will. Please stop repeating baseless claims. People are dying for your selfish bullshit.

Even if you believe in free will, god deliberately created the circumstances to trap humans. How the fuck does an omniscient being leave the room exactly long enough for his creations to incriminate themselves? Why no fence around the tree? Why make a tree like that at all? How were humans supposed to know good and evil without knowledge of good and evil? How do you know the snake is satan, why does god let satan harm people he supposedly cares about?

It's the stupidest fucking shit imaginable. Think critically, please.

No, I'm sure it wasn't, but I thought it would be hilarious if it was.

Let's imagine I were to tell my kids that there was a forbidden food in the house, and one of them decided to eat it. Would I be a good parent if I tortured them because of it? And not just the one that ate it, every single one of my children will now burn and suffer because one of them disobeyed me. But, wait, it's not over and done with yet, because they will ALL suffer through that experience all day, every day, forever. Just 24 hours a day of being branded with hot irons while hanging above hot coals.

Of course I won't be the one doing the torturing, I'm such a good guy after all. I have an arrangement with a guy who's into that sort of stuff. I just drive the kids over to his place and drop them off. Hopefully they've learned their lesson, but I don't fucking know, they're dead to me now.

If I were to do any of that, would I be considered a loving father? Would people see that as a good, kind action that deserves to be emulated? Should this practice replace the current standards of great parenting?

Or would they call me an evil sadistic monster?

we do?

okay now provide theological sources for the claims you made

It's a hypothetical situation, all the information is in the story. If I did that would I be considered a loving father?

We do what? Have evidence for god and/or free will? We do not. Go ahead and provide your best, I will explain how it is fallacious or inaccurate.

Existence is evidence of existence, no creator implied. If you want to pretend everything requires a cause, then so does god, otherwise you're falling for the special pleading fallacy.

The choices we make are a result of biological processes, not magic.

Special Pleading fallacies appear when you argue that something is different but it isnt.

And human beings rely on eachother and other components of an ecosystem, as we are not God, it is shown accurately that we do not exist of ourselves.

If one truly existed of himself, he would have no dependencies, that one is God.

God has no dependencies, he doesn't need us or depend on us but he loves us.

Thus, to claim that God does not exist is to claim that what has need of all has need of nothing.

It is not a special pleading fallacy when we talk about God's existence, as He exists through himself, and has all in himself.

Who do you think designed those biological processes, Frater/Soror?

If one truly existed of himself, he would have no dependencies, that one is God.

So, yes, special pleading. Your claim is that everyone (presumably everything ( requires a "dependency"... except god because he is special.

Grow up, your cult is killing us.

God has no dependencies, he doesn't need us or depend on us but he loves us.

You don't know what love is. Is god too weak to prevent cancer, or too cruel to care?

Thus, to claim that God does not exist is to claim that what has need of all has need of nothing.

Nope. To claim god doesn't exist is to accurately represent reality as we sense it.

Why are you assuming they were designed at all? We evolved our brains and emotions this way because each child born is unique, different from both parents. Some of these changes enable longer lives, reproduction, more children. Those that don't survive long enough to reproduce, their genes and behaviors do not get passed down. We were not designed to fit this world, and we are still evolving.

But it is special pleading. Why can't the universe itself be like that, no god needed?

Can you even define "god"?

Because then, you'd be trying to claim that what has need of all has need of nothing, a logical contradiction.

It is not. Imagine a series of gears. One of them has to start spinning to start up the entire series. The gears cannot suddenly start spinning from nothing.

God is neither weak nor cruel. Just because we may not understand his plan for his does not make either true.

What do you mean "no"? You didn't bring forth an argument at all?

what has need of all has need of nothing

What need are you talking about?

You still haven't answered how god solves this problem yet we can't apply the same logic to existence itself. You are still using special pleading to assume a conclusion that is not supported by any evidence.

Theology is not logical. Focus on reality.

For our sins. God gave us free will, but made us perfect.

If the sin he created us to commit is perfect, why does he punish us for it? You are ignoring the blatant contradictions. Cancer is perfect? He made that, too, right?

Please stop serving a literal death cult. Please stop defending rapists and pedophiles. Please stop glorifying violence.

Imagine a series of gears. One of them has to start spinning to start up the entire series. The gears cannot suddenly start spinning from nothing.

False equivalence. The universe is not a series of gears, we do not understand it well enough to reduce it to such a rudimentary example.

God is neither weak nor cruel. Just because we may not understand his plan for his does not make either true.

He is both weak and cruel, according to the bible. Thwarted by chariots of iron. Regularly uses violence to solve problems of his own making, commands his followers to take young sex slaves after killing their families.

So you have no explanation for children's cancer wards, yet you insist on worshipping the god you think is responsible for them. That's really sick.

What do you mean "no"? You didn't bring forth an argument at all?

You keep making claims without evidence. There's nothing for me to disprove. I'm trying to help you understand so you stop spreading deadly bullshit.

You said:

to claim that God does not exist is to claim that what has need of all has need of nothing.

What need? This led us to the gears, a bad analogy to support your special pleading fallacy.

I described the need.

Please read the comments I made above.

And it is because that God is of a different nature than of his creation.

Seems like a good system, a really good one. I wonder who designed it.......

Evolution is God's way of creating us, and we are still evolving, yes, but the process of evolution wad created by God.

I described the need. Please read the comments I made above.

Are you talking about the gears analogy? Again, it's a false equivalence. Wouldn't god just be another gear, also in need of something to start it turning?

And it is because that God is of a different nature than of his creation.

Ah. Special pleading. You see that's exactly what it is, don't you?

The universe doesn't need a god, based on everything we know so far. You need a god because you are scared and selfish. You would rather outsource your thinking and morality no matter how many people it kills.

Fuck you for choosing death.

Stop stealing credit for natural processes, shitbag.

Evolution is God's way of creating us, and we are still evolving, yes, but the process of evolution wad created by God.

He designed us to get sick and die young despite doing nothing wrong? He designed the bad mutations because he loves it when we suffer?

Fuck you, death cultist. You are defending the indefensible.

1. Causality can be interpreted as a series of gears. One thing is caused by the other.

2. Verses?

And the need is that of relying on other things to survive. If the sun disappeared, you would die, thus you depend on the sun. If all the arachnids and the sort died, the ecosystem would be rattled and we'd all die. We depend on other things to live. That is my evidence for this claim, as we can observe.

And to deny God's existence is to claim that what requires all (the universe, it depends on a lot of factors to survive) requires nothing (Does not require God to exist).

This is a logical contradiction.

https://catholicus.eu/en/the-theology-of-suffering-why-does-pain-have-a-meaning-in-gods-plan/

please read this

Sin was introduced to humanity by the serpent when Adam and Eve ate the apple.

ill need sources for the claims you made in the last paragraph

Causality can be interpreted as a series of gears. > > One thing is caused by the other.

If you say so. But that would include god, in that case.

Verses?

The honest answer: we don't know. Probably not god, certainly not the christian god.

If the sun disappeared, you would die, thus you depend on the sun.

This is extremely reductive and unimaginative. What if we find a way to replace the light, warmth, vitamins etc we get from the sun? Heck, maybe we could even make a version that doesn't give us cancer, one-upping your fictional god.

If all the arachnids and the sort died, the ecosystem would be rattled and we'd all die. We depend on other things to live. That is my evidence for this claim, as we can observe.

This says nothing about the origins of the universe. It wasn't made for us, we evolved to survive.

And to deny God's existence is to claim that what requires all (the universe, it depends on a lot of factors to survive) requires nothing (Does not require God to exist).

No. Atheists are not making a claim. You are making a claim that god exists based on nothing but wishful thinking and a poor understanding of science. We deny that claim because there is no evidence to support it.

This is a logical contradiction.

All you have is god of the gaps and special pleading. You have failed to convince me or anyone else with integrity that your god exists.

The gears extending infinitely would be a Reductio Ad Absurdum, so one gear must be the start of it all.

???

Definitely not within your lifespan, and definitely not fast enough if the sun actually disappeared.

I am making a claim by saying "X isnt real"

"poor understanding of science"

😐

If god is all-powerful, he chose to make us suffer. There is no reason for that unless he is not loving or does not exist.

Sin was introduced to humanity by the serpent when Adam and Eve ate the apple.

...all of which god created, knowing this would happen.

ill need sources for the claims you made in the last paragraph

You need look no further than the bible to confirm that all of christianity is a death cult, yahweh is a death god. Do you drink your savior's blood and eat his flesh? Do you know how fucked-up that is?

Rapists and pedophiles: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6676731/

Murderers and genociders: https://www.worldhistory.org/Crusades/

All in the name of your god. Can you prove they are wrong and you are right? Everyone reasonable is still waiting for any proof of god's existence before claiming they believe in it.

The gears extending infinitely would be a Reductio Ad Absurdum, so one gear must be the start of it all

So god also requires a cause. The only alternative is special pleading.

Definitely not within your lifespan, and definitely not fast enough if the sun actually disappeared.

Why did god choose to make a sun that gives us cancer?

I am making a claim by saying "X isnt real"

Atheists are "making the claim" that we don't believe your claim, because there is no argument, evidence, or reason supporting your claim. You not only assume there is a god, you then assume to understand why he created suffering, even though you have not been able to explain it. He cannot be both powerful and loving, if he existed at all.

Absolutely. You identify the process of evolution based on evidence (well done, some theists can't even manage that), and then you attribute it to a creator despite there being no reason to make that jump.

Faith is weakness, an assumption made in the absence of fact and stubbornly held despite what any evidence might suggest.

You worship the god of the gaps. "We don't know, so it's probably god." But it's probably not. "We don't know" means it could be anything. The odds of your baseless guess being correct are virtually zero.

Meanwhile, real people are being harmed as a result of your beliefs.

Scientifically speaking, we have no evidence suggesting the existence of a god. How do you even define "god"? It is human wishful thinking every time.

If there was sufficient evidence, I would still be a believer. But when I am as honest as I can be, I see nothing at all in this universe to suggest a god's existence, much less the christian god, who is described in contradictory ways because biblical authors were not consistent with themselves or with each other. Loving + powerful = no need for suffering. God is unimaginative. Stupid. Cruel. Non-existent.

No, he doesn't. He is of a different nature.

Why do you think its ok to eat chicken but not human flesh? Because we of a different nature than chickens.

Thus, God is also of a different nature than us.

When cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church became known, the German Bishops’ Conference (Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, DBK) commissioned a study by an interdisciplinary consortium to determine the frequency of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Germany (the MHG study).

1670 persons belonging to the Catholic clergy who were accused of sexual abuse of minors were identified from their personnel files, corresponding to 4.4% of the clergy overall.

The DBK requested this study in the first place, and 4.4% of all clergy since the 1910s in Germany

Also, there have been many scientifically proven miracles.

There is, there have been many scientifically proven miracles

When you see a painting with the artist's signature, what is more likely?

That there is an artist that painted it? or the brushes of paint rolled around the paper in a certain way due to the wind and it was created?

No, he doesn't. He is of a different nature.

Special pleading.

Why do you think its ok to eat chicken but not human flesh? Because we of a different nature than chickens.

Because a society that tolerates needless cannibalism is unsustainable. And because prions. But also, I don't think it's okay to eat chicken.

Thus, God is also of a different nature than us.

Special pleading. Aren't we each of a "different nature", as individuals? Define "nature".

They protect pedophiles until they cannot, if the evidence is overwhelming. How many are they still protecting today? How many were simply sent to other churches to harm more victims?

Still happening this year, actively covering up abuse: https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2026/01/27/catholic-abuse-powerful-utah/

Also, there have been many scientifically proven miracles.

Define "miracle". Name one that has been scientifically proven.

There is no artist's signature on our universe. Stop making stupid false equivalences.