Pilgrimage goes digital on island

Greece's holiest pilgrimage site on the Aegean island of Tinos has launched an e-mail service allowing those too poor or sick to visit in person to have their prayers read to its icon of the Virgin Mary.

Tinos, part of the Cycladic archipelago some 120 km from Athens, attracts around 1 million visitors a year to its church of the Virgin Mary, whose icon is revered in Greece's Orthodox Church for its reputed healing powers.

Many pilgrims, especially at the Aug 15 height of the pilgrimage, crawl nearly a kilometer from the ferry wharf to the church on their hands and knees as a sign of devotion. Many fulfill a pledge to light a candle as tall as themselves.