Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Church & State
Portugal has a long and deep connection to the church. Even during the long rule of the
Moors, Christianity flourished in the north - which provided a strategic base for Christian
crusaders to retake the kingdom. Cleric and king walked hand in hand, from the earliest
papal alliances of the 11th century through to the 17th century, when the church played a
role both at home and in Portugal's expanding empire.
Things ran smoothly until the 18th century, when the Marquês de Pombal, a man of the
Enlightenment, wanted to curtail the power of the church - specifically the Jesuits, whom
he expelled in 1759. He also sought to modernise the Portuguese state (overseeing one of
the world's first urban 'grid' systems) and brought education under the state's control.
State-church relations see-sawed over the next 150 years, with power struggles including
the outright ban of religious orders in 1821, and the seizing by the state of many church
properties.
The separation of church and state was formally recognised during the First Republic
(1910-26). But in practice the church remained intimately linked to many aspects of life.
Health and education were largely under the domain of the church, with Catholic schools
and hospitals the norm. Social outlets for those in rural areas were mostly church-related.
And the completion of any public-works project always included a blessing by the local
bishop.
In 1932 António de Oliveira Salazar swept into power, establishing a Mussolini-like
Estado Novo
(New State) that lasted until the Carnation Revolution of 1974. Salazar had
strong ties to the Catholic church - he spent eight years studying for the priesthood before
switching to law. His college roommate was a priest who later became the Cardinal Patri-
arch of Lisbon. Salazar was a ferocious anticommunist, and used Roman Catholic referen-
ces to appeal to people's sense of authority, order and discipline. He described the family,
parish and larger institution of Christianity as the foundations of the state. Church officials
who spoke out against him were silenced or forced into exile.
Following the 1974 revolution, the church found itself out of favour with many Por-
tuguese; its support of the Salazar regime spelled its undoing in the topsy-turvy days fol-
lowing the government's collapse. The new constitution, ratified in 1976, again emphasised
the formal separation of church and state, although this time the law had teeth, and Portugal
quickly transitioned into a more secular society. Today, only about half of all weddings
happen inside a church. Divorce is legal, as is abortion (up to 10 weeks; a law that went in-
to effect following a 2007 referendum). In 2010 same-sex marriage was legalised, making
