World's biggest Church
Giant new church at Fatima shrine
Thousands of pilgrims have flocked to a ceremony in Portugal to consecrate one of the world's biggest church.
Thousands of pilgrims have flocked to a ceremony in Portugal to consecrate one of the world's biggest church.
The Church of the Holy Trinity is at the shrine of Fatima, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to three shepherd children in 1917.The church can accommodate nearly 9,000 worshippers and has no internal columns. Pope Benedict XVI given a televised address to the congregation on Sunday. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, and about 40 other cardinals and bishops from around the world attended Friday's opening ceremony. The site, 113km (70 miles) north of the Portuguese capital Lisbon, took three years to build and is said to be the world's fourth biggest church. Designed by Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, it has 13 doors, said to represent Christ's last supper with the 12 apostles.
More than 250,000 pilgrims attended the inauguration this weekend of a new church at Fatima. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, presided over the celebrations that began Friday ended on Sunday. The inauguration of the church will bring to a close celebrations marking the 90th anniversary of the Virgin Mary's supposed apparition. The new church is one of the biggest in the world and cost 70 million euros ($99 million) to build. Its 12,000- square-metre interior will have seats for 9,000 people.
Many faithful have argued that Fatima does not even need a new church, but those people do not live there. The Basilica of Fatima holds 9000 people seated but at almost every Sunday Mass there are more than 1,500 people, some outside hearing the Mass from speakers. The Church is beautiful but in the winter you are freezing to death inside. Because of the high ceiling there is no way to heat it and unless you stand next to the heaters you are going to be very cold. This is not a problem on the feast days of Fatima from May 13 through October 13 because these are the warm months and these Masses are always outside in the large square. Almost everyday of the week there are at least 10 Masses in 5 locations at the Shrine and these are getting harder and harder to attend because of the crowds. On some days there are as many as 20 Masses. I also think that we need churches.But it must not be very expensive.
Many faithful have argued that Fatima does not even need a new church, but those people do not live there. The Basilica of Fatima holds 9000 people seated but at almost every Sunday Mass there are more than 1,500 people, some outside hearing the Mass from speakers. The Church is beautiful but in the winter you are freezing to death inside. Because of the high ceiling there is no way to heat it and unless you stand next to the heaters you are going to be very cold. This is not a problem on the feast days of Fatima from May 13 through October 13 because these are the warm months and these Masses are always outside in the large square. Almost everyday of the week there are at least 10 Masses in 5 locations at the Shrine and these are getting harder and harder to attend because of the crowds. On some days there are as many as 20 Masses. I also think that we need churches.But it must not be very expensive.
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