Catholic Croats send emails to saint

ZAGREB (Reuters) - The faithful in staunchly Roman Catholic Croatia can now forward their prayers to a 13th century saint by e-mail.

E-mails can be sent to Veritas, a religious magazine, whose Web site has a link called "Dear St. Anthony", which contains a prayer form for worshippers to fill in, the Jutarnji List newspaper said on Wednesday.

Veritas editor, Father Ivan Bradaric, then collects and takes them to the Italian city of Padua, where St. Anthony, a 13th century Franciscan, was buried. His remains are still venerated in a local basilica, a famous pilgrimage site.

"I go to Padua once a month and usually carry at least 100 prayers. They are very intimate, for family, children, health," Bradaric told the daily.

St. Anthony is one of the most popular saints in Croatia, where some 90 percent of people say they are Catholic.