Global Mass-finding app surpasses 2 million downloads

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 3, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

What if with a click you could find when the next Mass closest to your location will be?

That’s what Argentine computer science graduate Pablo Licheri envisioned. Eleven years ago, he made it possible for the faithful to participate in the Eucharist even when traveling and far from home by creating Catholic Mass Times, an app available in nine languages that instantly shows you the nearest Catholic churches with Mass, confession, and adoration times.

“If we are 1.3 billion Catholics, imagine what we can do if we also use our cellphones to get closer to God!” Licheri told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. He made the app using his own computer, programming it on weekends.

From zero to viral, without marketing or sponsorship

There is no company or major investors behind the technology. Not even advertising. “For almost 10 years, my wife and I financed everything,” Licheri said. To get the app up and running, “we worked really hard and used our own money, with time stolen from rest,” he explained.

Called Horarios de Misa in Spanish, the app surpassed 2 million downloads last week and has become the largest Catholic database in the world, with information on 125,000 churches.

There have been many challenges in compiling the information. Of the 3,000 dioceses worldwide, 70% don’t have a website. “I tried to contact the dioceses and parishes, but they often didn’t respond. Especially in the poorest countries. This reality is very different from what we see in countries like the United States, where dioceses operate almost like large companies,” he explained.

Consequently, he made a key decision to collect the data. He designed the app so that users can send information directly from it. “I personally uploaded all the churches in Buenos Aires, which were more than 200. Then people started traveling and sending information … and that’s how it grew.”

The app has an internal team that updates the information. Through corrections provided by users, diocesan websites, or Google Maps, the Catholic Mass Times team fine-tunes any information that may have changed.

In fact, when you enter the app and select a Mass time, you can see the latest verification date.

The app also includes exotic destinations like the Maldives, where the public practice of any religion other than Islam is prohibited.

“I thought there wouldn’t be any churches there. But I found out that at the Italian consulate, if you’re a foreigner and ask for permission, you can attend Mass. So, there’s the only Mass there is in that country, and it’s on the app,” Licheri explained.

Available on Android and IOS, the app’s simple and intuitive interface makes it an indispensable tool, especially for those traveling for work, vacation, or moving to a new city.

In addition to its primary function, the app has a pastoral and educational dimension: For the past three years, a weekly newsletter on faith, devotions, and Eucharistic reflections has been sent every Saturday, reaching more than 52,000 subscribers.

“It’s a concrete tool for getting closer to God,” Licheri said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.