Saw the following article in the Straits Times this morning and
couldn't resist sharing it with the list. :-)

Jean-Marc

Undersea setting for priest's
                     Bible reading

                     BENITACHELL (Spain) -- A Spanish priest with
a fondness for
                     scuba diving spent 15 minutes leading a
Bible reading in an
                     underwater cave.

                     The Rev Francisco Javier Serra, 54, said he
took the 8-m plunge off
                     this southeast Spanish town on Tuesday ""as
a symbol of the
                     presence of God in sports''.

                     His feat was part of a campaign by the Roman
Catholic Church in
                     Valencia to stage non-stop Bible readings
throughout the year 2000.

                     Father Serra chose a suitably maritime
passage -- the story of Jonah,
                     the Hebrew prophet thrown overboard during a
storm for disobeying
                     God. Jonah was swallowed by a whale, only to
be cast ashore
                     unharmed three days later.

                     He was accompanied by two university
students and a camera
                     operator, all of whom pitched in with the
reading.

                     ""I had a congregation of a few people and
lots of fish,'' Father Serra
                     said.

                     The trick to talking underwater is to take
in a big lungful of oxygen,
                     remove your mouthpiece for a second and spit
out the words, he
                     said.

                     Student Jose Antonio Molina, 22, admitted
that the acoustics were
                     challenging.

                     ""It was pretty hard to understand,'' he
said. ""The important thing,
                     though, is that we read.'' --AP