To those who have been discussing the efficacy of prayer (Letters, 14 March), I would recommend a look at a 2006 Harvard study into praying for sick people, which was funded to the tune of $2.5m by the Templeton Foundation, an American philanthropic organisation. Scientists studied 1,800 patients using double-blind testing, which was recognised as being rigorous and reliable. Of the three groups tested, there were no discernible results in two of them; in the third group, some people who were really ill and knew they were being prayed for got worse – not many, but statistically measurable. I understand that this will not make a blind bit of difference to people’s beliefs.
Paul Wright
King’s Lynn, Norfolk
• Peter van den Dungen suggests paying for peace, rather than praying for it. Peace of a kind was brought to Manchester cathedral some years ago when a peregrine falcon often perched on the parapets, petrifying the pooing pigeons, who in a sense paid for it. Mind you, the peregrine did the preying.
Fr Alec Mitchell
Holyhead, Anglesey
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