Parishioners have always asked their priest to say a special prayer in church on their behalf.
The Bishopthorpe Palace website, which allows people to e-mail prayers direct to the Archbishop of York, is an extension of that tradition.
It proves that the church is adapting to the modern world. The website is a sort of ecclesiastical on-line call centre. Soon we might see Scenes from the Scriptures screensavers and a host of other spiritual innovations.
However, computers will never provide a more direct line of communication than the personal prayer.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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