“See you Oclocher! », Such is the slogan of the application launched last September by two fathers living near Angers (Maine-et-Loire). Downloadable from a smartphone, tablet or computer, the application allows you to follow the news of a parish, to offer help and to pray with the readings of the day. “We wanted to offer the Church a new tool, allowing parishioners to stay in touch and get involved in the life of the parish”, explains Arthur Regnard, one of the co-founders, with Xavier de Colombel, of the Oclocher company.
This is to give parish communities the means to maintain contact throughout the week. The parish priest can use it to address his parishioners at any time via short messages, and volunteer teams can plan and broadcast events directly to everyone. Launched in the fall of 2022, the application is already used in more than forty parishes in France, whether urban or rural. Free for users, the application however has a cost for the parishes which adhere to it, “the price range ranging from 1 to 75 € per month”, according to the co-founder of the company.
User of the application, Father Olivier Barnay, parish priest of the Pont-de-Veyle parish group, which brings together eleven municipalities in Ain (diocese of Belley-Ars), says he is “very happy with this missionary tool”. “I use it to evangelize because the application does not only affect the faithful, but it is also used by people who are not usually there in the ranks of the parish”, he confides. Point of possible improvement according to him, “an interactive fraternal part” could however make the application even more interesting.
