Bishops Boil Holy Water to Protect Fish
Date: 04-Jul-03
Country: NORWAY
"The danger was probably small but we had to be cautious about pouring water brought from around Europe into a salmon river," Johan Aurstad, senior advisor at the Norwegian Animal Health Authority, told Reuters Thursday.
A gathering of 126 bishops and other Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders in the Norwegian city of Trondheim boiled flasks of holy water for 10 minutes to kill any bacteria before pouring it into the Nidaros River Wednesday.
The delegates, at the Conference of European Churches, each brought about 0.1 liters of water from countries ranging from Greece to Estonia for the ceremony to symbolize unity.
"The water was of a type used for baptisms so you have to assume it was drinking water quality. But we had to be cautious," Aurstad said.
