Pope Arrives in Portugal as “Pilgrim to Our Lady of Fatima”

The Holy Father’s brief address at the Lisbon airport touched upon the themes of Portugal’s historical attachment to the Church, the separation of Church and State that issued from the Republican Revolution in the early 20th century, and the common vocation of man to seek the higher good above in a vertical relationship with God who is the Good. Here is a clip from the address:

“Since the earliest days of their nationhood, the Portuguese people have looked to the Successor of Peter for recognition of their existence as a Nation; in due course, one of my predecessors was to honour Portugal, in the person of its King, with the title “most faithful” (cf. Pius II, Bull Dum Tuam, 25 January 1460), for long and distinguished service to the cause of the Gospel. As for the event that took place 93 years ago, when heaven itself was opened over Portugal – like a window of hope that God opens when man closes the door to him – in order to refashion, within the human family, the bonds of fraternal solidarity based on the mutual recognition of the one Father, this was a loving design from God; it does not depend on the Pope, nor on any other ecclesial authority: “It was not the Church that imposed Fatima”, as Cardinal Manuel Cerejeira of blessed memory used to say, “but it was Fatima that imposed itself on the Church.” Full text is here.