BRAZIL, Cássio Leal •
Last week I accompanied a group of pilgrims from the city of Várzea Paulista, in the interior of São Paulo, to the city of Salvador in Bahia. —
It was a pilgrimage to several historic churches, many built by the Portuguese when Salvador was still the capital of Brazil and belonged to one of the many Portuguese colonies. Bahia was the cradle of Christian and Catholic evangelization in Brazil, the place where the Portuguese arrived with their caravels in 1500.
Shrine of the Holy Dulce of the Poor
Saint Dulce of the Poor
This trip was organized by Catedral Viagens, an agency from the city of Campinas that specializes in pilgrimages around Brazil and the world. One of the most memorable moments was visiting the Shrine of Saint Dulce of the Poor, known as “Sister Dulce”, a nun who dedicated herself to caring for the poor and most needy in Bahia. Sister Dulce was canonized in 2019 by Pope Francis.
The Schoenstatt Shrine
The city of Salvador has more than 370 Catholic churches and one of them is the Schoenstatt Shrine that was inaugurated in 2001 as fruit of the Pilgrim MTA campaign.
On the last day of the trip, on our way to Salvador airport, we visited the “Tabor Matris Salvatoris” Schoenstatt Shrine, as our last place of pilgrimage in Bahia during our trip. We thanked them for all the blessings we had received during these days and asked for their protection and apostolic sending on our return home. Bahia is the land of joy!
Original: Portuguese. Translation: Maria Fischer @schoenstatt.org
