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Article: The Internet's open-source patron saint.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- April 22, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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UNLIKE the well-established rules for beatification and canonisation, the allocation of patron saints to particular activities is somewhat haphazard. Only in a handful of cases have patron saints been officially denominated by the pope. St Clare of Assisi, who was said to have been able to see and hear distant events, was declared patron saint of television in 1958; and the Archangel Gabriel was made patron saint of telecommunications in 1921. Thus saints who lived many centuries ago became associated with rather more modern inventions.
The vast majority of patron saints, however, are linked to their various trades, activities or professions by nothing more than ...