What Are These Among So Many?

Anglican Clergy in the crowd.

Effigy of John Paul II.

What outpourings of affection for Pope Benedict in Portugal last week!  There was a vast crowd to welcome him in Lisbon, where he celebrated Mass in the civic square created by the Duke de Pombal after the devastating 18th Century earthquake.  On the evening of Wednesday 12th, the Holy Father arrived in Fatima, some seventy miles north-east of the Capital, up on the plateau near Leiria.  Among the estimated half-million there to greet him was a tiny British contingent, a couple of dozen Anglicans from England and Scotland who belong to the Ecumenical Friends of Fatima.

It was very moving to witness the real affection felt by the Portuguese for the Pope.  His predecessor, John Paul II, had been a frequent visitor, and had a deep devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, attributing his delivery from the assassin's bullet to her prayerful intervention.  That attempt on his life happened on May 13th; the day of the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin to the Shepherd children in 1917.

The crowd in church though was as nothing compared with the multitudes gathered to attend Mass the next morning.  This time, we were seated in the colonnade, just behind the President and his entourage, and in front of the Papal Knights.

Part of the crowd.

If you have a magnifying glass you might just make out the image of Our Lady being borne through the crowds – immediately in front of the dark rectangle at the back of the picture, which is the entrance to the Basilica.  Eventually after teams of soldiers and others had struggled to carry the weight of the image (and the flowers, and the lights, and the batteries to power them, all in the base on which the image stands) it was reposed to the side of the altar.

The Pope arrives at the Altar.

Perhaps the most striking thing about religion in Portugal is that it is such a family affair.  There is very little hotel accommodation in the town, so people arrive in pickups and family cars and set up camp throughout Fatima and outside it.  Everyone is there, from grandma to the youngest children.  The fathers are the ones who have charge of the toddlers, and in such a crowd that is no easy task.

As we flew back to England (safely and quickly, despite TV warning us of airline strikes and volcanic ash) we wondered whether there would be even a tenth of the devotion and sheer friendship towards the Pope when he arrives in Britain later in the year.  Certainly we Christians in the British Isles have a responsibility to pray for that visit, and ask Our Lady's prayers for his protection.

Central London, 17 May.