Missionary Trip to Portugal and the Cape Verde Islands—Reported by Raymond de Souza, October 2009.

I arrived in Lisbon from Philadelphia on a Saturday, and from the airport I was taken to a nice coffee shop in downtown Lisbon by our good friend, Mr. Fernando Castro, the President of the Portuguese Association of Large Families.  After a croissant filled with ham and cheese and a dose of delicious Portuguese caffeine, I was ready to address a group of about 20 people who are the leaders of various pro-life groups in Portugal. They represent most pro-lifers in the country and usually meet once every couple of months to discuss plans, strategies, news, and views in order to coordinate their efforts to promote the Culture of Life.

I was the guest speaker for that meeting, and I addressed the issue of revitalizing Catholic Action in the context of the Gospel of Life: namely, to strengthen three specific aspects in the pro-life struggle: prayer, study, and action.

*Prayer: mainly holy hours before the tabernacle, the rosary and the St. Michael prayer.

*Study: relevant Papal encyclicals and HLI material;

*Action: vigils in front of abortion mills, distribution of the “Silent Scream” DVD, baby models, flyers, recruitment of young people; contacts  with sympathetic clergy, organization of talks and seminars, etc..

I proposed a similar plan in Cape Verde as well, especially to the local clergy.

After my talk, we watched a video about the giant pro-life demonstration in Madrid, which gave a shot of enthusiasm to everyone present. A discussion followed, in which most leaders shared their suggestions for future action in Portugal.

Saturday afternoon was spent at a prayer vigil in a church, a vigil that takes place once a month. In the evening I addressed some 30-40 people at Holy Family Parish. Among those present were three priests and six seminarians, together with their rector, Fr. José Manuel Teixeira de Abreu, who was very interested in having me address the people of his own parish the following weekend, when I would be back from Cape Verde. Since then, two of the seminarians have already contacted me via email to request HLI material and work together with HLI in Portugal.

Another priest present was Fr. Leone Orlando, C.S., parish priest of the Amora parish. He gave me his card to keep in touch.

Sunday afternoon I attended a pot luck lunch at the Castro family house, organized by the group of Fatima pilgrims, an ad hoc association of 70 or so very pro-life people who twice a year go to Fatima on foot (a five-day walk, with breaks for meals and rest). I also met an American couple from Portland, OR, who live in Lisbon and are very much involved with the pro-life work there. The topic of my address in all places has been an analysis of the de-Christianization of the West and the response of the Culture of Life.

Breaking New Ground for HLI: Cape Verde Islands

On Monday, the new adventure began: I was going to arrive in Cape Verde without having met anyone before, like falling with a parachute into an unknown country. I must say, the idea of opening completely new fronts does appeal to me very much — a real thrill!

An early afternoon flight took me to the Cape Verde Archipelago, an ancient Portuguese colony off the coast of Senegal. Since the great navigations and discoveries of the 1500s, the Portuguese brought in people from various countries of Africa to populate the islands, thereby breeding a new race, as it were. It was interesting to see Portuguese as the official language of those islands.

The country is composed of basically ten islands, Santiago being the most important one because the capital, Praia, is there.  Santiago holds roughly half of the population of the islands, or just fewer than half a million souls. Other islands are: Maio, Boa Vista, Sal, São Nicolau,  São Vicente, Santo Antão, Brava e Fogo. A small island remains uninhabited: Santa Luzia.

Needless to say, the intense heat and, especially, humidity were at their highest to greet all visitors arriving at the airport. A ride by taxi to “downtown” Praia, the Cape Verde Capital, revealed that there were no electric lights on the streets. As a matter of fact, blackouts are common occurrences on the island.

The following morning, I made a quick tour on foot to get to know the “downtown” area of Praia. The old Portuguese colonial style was a distinctive feature of the main buildings.

I started making phone calls to the few people whose names and telephone numbers friends in Portugal had given me. My first contact was Mrs. Victoria Pina, a young mother of two, who kindly helped me find my way to visit the Franciscan sisters’ convent. There I met the superior, Mother Maria da Luz. From there we went to the local parish at the “Achado Santo Antonio,” where I met the parish priest, Fr. José Constantina.

That same day, we went to visit the local minor seminary, where we met Fr. José Álvaro, the Seminary Rector, who was very concerned about the lack of moral formation of the youth in the country.  The natural results of this are promiscuity, contraception, and abortion. The abortion laws of Cape Verde appear to be as bad as those of South Africa.

Fr. Álvaro was very happy to receive our informative material and showed interest in having me address the seminarians during another visit, when a wider public could be invited to attend the talks.

The following day, a couple came to visit me at the hotel.  Like many in the country, Mr. and Mrs. José and Francisca Pires were aware of the Culture of Death, but not its true extent. They showed great interest in receiving informative material from HLI and in promoting it among their friends.

My last contact on that short visit was Fr. Raul Lima, a dynamic young Portuguese priest of the Holy Spirit Fathers. After an hour of conversation, he showed great interest in HLI’s work and suggested that we go to meet Fr. Boaventura, the Chancellor of the Diocese. Fr. Boaventura received a folder containing plenty of HLI information and promised to present it personally to the bishop upon his return from Rome.

After that visit, Fr. Raul kindly took me to his parish in the interior of the island of Santiago. We had lunch with Fr. Alberto, a retired parish priest who has been living in Cape Verde for the past 41 years. I also met a group of ladies in the parish who live a life of consecrated secularity, helping out in daycare for children, mostly with single mothers.

Fr. Alberto put me in touch with a group of Franciscans fathers in the island of São Vicente, who have a radio station and who would have liked to receive infromation from HLI for broadcasting in the archipelago.

On my way to the airport for my flight back to Portugal, Fr. Raul took me to see a stone-built fort from the 1500s, erected by the Portuguese in their defense against Sir Francis Drake, the famous English pirate.

Teaching the Future

Back in Lisbon, I gave another talk at the Holy Family Parish, this time to address a group of some 35 teenagers and young adults who frequent the local catechesis. I was asked to address the basic issue regarding the difference in the choice between good and evil leading to happiness or unhappiness and the reasons why one must choose good and avoid evil.  The youth group is open to HLI for another event in the future, whenever I return to Portugal. The parish priest was very interested in the full-day seminar that I give young people in which they have the opportunity to ask as many questions as they wish.  

In the evening of the same day, at the Incarnation Church right in the center of Lisbon, I addressed a group of some 30 students from the Catholic University of Portugal. It was a very lively meeting with the  youth who will play a major role in influencing the future of Portugal. We agreed to keep in touch on a regular basis, and I will send them educational material in both Portuguese and English.

We will probably have a very active HLI group at the Catholic University, God-willing.

As a follow-up to all of these talks, a full week of talks and seminars in Portugal is on the drawing board for next year. The students want to hold a public talk on campus, covering a couple of controversial issues, especially homosexuality. It should be very interesting, indeed!

In the evening, another talk was held at the Boa Hora parish, where Fr. Jose Manuel is the parish priest. He is the rector of the minor seminary of the Setubal diocese. It seems that the topic of de-christianization and the Culture of Life awakens the awareness of the Portuguese regarding the direction the country is going towards the culture of death and moral corruption.

It was my third visit to Portugal, and it would seem that there are certainly excellent groups and individuals who do very good work and are prepared to cooperate with HLI in the promotion of the Culture of Life.  My trip to Cape Verde was just the first visit, which will open new paths for HLI’s work in the country.