Speakers Corner Liberal Social

She was the most fierce catholic person that I’ve known. She was catequist; and she mentioned faith, Jesus or God (not in vain) in every conversation, in almost every sentence she said. There are not many people in rural Portugal who know or talk about the freemasonry – but there she was, blaming those who mocked the Holy Cross.

And yet, this ultra-religious person that blamed divorce as a source of infinite evil, she was capable of surprising me. The last time I saw her, she talked about marriage. Today, people are not tolerant, and divorce is a plague. But, then again, she talked about her own marriage. She has been married for almost 50 years... a happy marriage, I suppose? Yes, but yet, she had some problems:
“Ele empiteirava-se…”
Ok, she complained a little of the alcohol problems of her husband. And what did she do about? Of course, she didn’t left him; you don’t walk away from your commitment. However, she didn’t remained silent: “ele começou a dizer que se suicidava por causa de nós e eu comecei a dizer na rua como é que as coisas se passavam. Sim, que as pessoas também acabavam por perceber…”
Was she raising false testimonial? No. Was she difamating her husband? I’m not sure... problably not. What impressed me was that she was using tactics to tackle the situation – using the public space to defend herself in the private space – that I would link to Feminism, of Protestant societies...
Maybe that tactics is part ot Catecism of the Catholic Church, as mentioned by Dr. Arroja in his blog? I don’t know. What I know is that today, “se calhar não aturava tanta coisa.” Is this a sign that Catholic societies are being progressively conquered by protestant values, even among the loyalest people? Or, does it simple mean that Catholic women are more aware that God doesn’t tell them to be like “mulas”?