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When the saints go logging on
              Online prayers could soon be answered

             The next time you have trouble surfing the Net, spiritual
             help could be at hand.

             In answer to the prayers of many Net users who have
             just crashed, the Vatican is considering giving the
             Internet its own patron saint.

             The choice of religious saviour is thought to be St Isidore

             of Seville, who died 1,400 years ago.

             The Spanish saint is the preferred choice for the Net by
             many users. He is credited with creating the world's first
             database - a 20-volume encyclopaedia.

             St Isidore was a prolific writer and his works include a
             history of the world. He introduced the works of Aristotle
             to Spain and was considered to be one of the most
             learned men of his day.

             For those about to crash


                                 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 church are
heavily
             involved with the Internet.

             The Pope broadcasts live speeches on the Web and
             Vatican Radio can be heard online.

             It also uses three servers to cope with the heavy demand
             made on its websites, appropriately called Raphael,
             Gabriel and Michael.

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