Fun_People Archive
15 Jun
The Patron Saint of ... the Internet?

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 99 13:30:04 -0700
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Subject: The Patron Saint of ... the Internet?

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See: http://www.ireland.com/scripts/technology/showall.cfm?id=424

Vatican ponders patron saint for the Net

   14/06/99: The Vatican is considering a move to create a patron saint of
the Internet, helping millions of users around the world pray for a quicker
service.
   The choice of religious saviour is thought to be St Isidore of Seville
who died 1,400 years ago.

   St Isidore is the preferred choice for patron saint of the Net by many
users as he is credited with creating the world's first database - a
20-volume encyclopaedia.

   The saintly move has not yet been confirmed by the Vatican, but it has
been rumoured for some time and the campaign by Internet users has been
growing.

   Spokesman for the Catholic Media Office Tom Hallwood said: "There are
patron saints of many things, so why not let the Internet have one?

   "It is a good idea and might be able to help us all when we are about to
crash.

   "There has been no official statement from Rome but this has been an idea
floating around for a while, so why not?"

   The Vatican and the Roman Catholic religion are heavily involved with
the Internet, with the Pope broadcasting live speeches on the Web as well
as having Vatican Radio which can be heard online.

   It also uses three servers - large computers used to power the Net - to
cope with the heavy demand made on its web sites, appropriately called
Raphael, Gabriel and Michael.

   The move to appoint a patron saint for the Internet has been down to
pressure from Catholic users around the world, predominantly Spain. PA
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