DMcG says: but an Englishman who sees Christ a a good chap out of Eton (except for those few troublesome days at the end) but the rest of the time well groomed with nicely laundered clothes speaking to other good fellows, we'll, that's not the image I'd promote.

Well, said, well said. And it gave me a good laugh, too.

I'm not all that comfortable with the shrine at Fatima in Portugal, where the Virgin Mary was supposed to have appeared to three children and given them three anti-communist messages (one to be kept secret until revealed by the Pope). How much of that whole thing is healthy, and how much is a product of Salazar's fascism?

But anyhow, I went there about five years ago, and I was a little taken aback by presence of soldiers in the evening candlelight procession. It was a very nice procession, but it was led by a soldier carrying a neon cross, and there was a military color guard accompanying the Blessed Sacrament about two-thirds of the way back in the line of a thousand or so pilgrims.

But anyhow, what I meant to say is that the shrine has a new basilica, a simple, one-story cylinder of white stone. The inside feels quite intimate, although it holds 6,500 people. The most notable thing inside is the crucifix. The body of Christ on the crucifix is twice life-size, and it is supposed to incorporate characteristics of all the ethnic groups on earth. The artist did a good job - I really liked the result.

After Fatima, we went to the shrines at Santiago and Lourdes, where the pilgrims seemed to be far less serious and far more interested in having a good time. I liked those places better, although I have to admit I found a wonderful Irish singaround in the bar of our hotel in Fatima.

-Joe-