Strolling in the Alfama

Saturday afternoon saw us enjoying a relatively aimless afternoon in downtown city centre Lisbon. It’s unusually hot for the middle of October, people have told us, but we didn’t mind that one bit. We took the number 28 tram from the heart of the city, Baixa Chiado, to the old district of the Alfama. Think of one of those old wooden rickety rollercoasters at a fairground, but without the speed or the huge heights. Then place that rollercoaster in first in a crowded city centre plaza, then against the backdrop of some of the most dramatic and elegant architectural of Europe. And all for less than a euro. Wonderfully cheap Saturday afternoon entertainment!!

It was one of those afternoons when it was just nice to have nothing to do. We stepped into a big old church at the top of the hill, behind the Castle. Moving from the brilliant sunshine and the lively pace of the streets into the massive hall of quietness and darkness lit by a few candles, I got an overwhelming sense of weight. The weight of years, and all of the humanity that had passed through these doors, but over and above that the weight of the institution that this and many many other similar churches in old Lisbon represent.

Saturday was also an important day in the religious life of the nation. The 13th October and the 13th May are high points in the calendar of the shrine at Fatima. They mark the dates when the vision of the virgin Mary were supposed to have been given in 1917. The TV screens were full of the event with thousands upon thousands of pilgrims. The hierarchy of the clergy were there, including the Secretary of State from the Vatican to inaugurate the Church of the Holy Trinity what is to the brand new Sanctuary, and will be one of the largest Church sanctuary outside of St Peters in Rome in Europe. When an interviewer asked the reason for the name given to the Church, the reply was given that it was because God should be at the heart of all that this Church represents. Pity then that the whole of focus of the ceremonies and festivities should be not around the Father, nor the Son, nor the Holy Spirit, but on Mary and the institutions of the Church.

In a country of around 12 million people, it is estimated that around 4 million, will visit Fatima in the course of a year. May the Lord bring light, and lift the weight of years and tradition off the contemporary understanding of what Christianity is in present day Portugal.