VATICAN CITY, APR. 2, 2001 (ZENIT.org).- On April 4 the Catholic Church
celebrates the feast of St. Isidore of Seville, the saint who has received
the most petitions to be named Internet´s patron.
The «last Father of the Western Church,» was born in Cartagena in 560, and
died in Seville in 636. His elder brother Leander was Bishop of Seville. At
the latter´s death, he was replaced by Isidore, who headed that diocese for
38 years.
St. Isidore´s best known work, «Etymologies,» was the first Christian
«encyclopaedia» similarly structured to the data bases used by Internet
today. This work of the saint, who in 1722 was declared a «doctor of the
Church» by Pope Benedict XIII, preserved a good part of the ancient cultural
heritage, and gave a soul to the cultural transition in which he lived.
During the last plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications, which ended on March 16, the participants studied the
possibility of presenting the Vatican State Secretariat with several names to
proclaim a patron saint for Internet. St. Isidore of Seville has received the
most requests from all over the world. Others proposed are St. Paul the
Apostle, and two 20th century martyrs: St. Maximilian Kolbe, a great
communicator, and Blessed Titus Brandsma, a Dutch Carmelite and journalist
(Cf. ZENIT, March 16, 2001).
