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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">O Outsourcing: So, is being prayed for
by a total stranger as good<BR>as being prayed for by your parish priest?
The Vatican swears it's<BR>a longstanding practice, but Catholic churches in the
U.S. (and<BR>Canada and Europe) are, increasingly, contracting out certain
ritual<BR>prayers (e.g., requiems) to Catholic priests in India, who will
pray<BR>at cheaper rates than U.S. priests (but who do expect more
from<BR>American parishioners than they'd get from Indian
Catholics).<BR><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>