Portugal's Ombudsman has found that a Catholic blessing at the opening of a Cascais state school raises a question under the law on Church and State, according to a secularist group, echoing the Religious Freedom Commission. Neither opinion is binding.
The commission says the Catholic blessing at the 21 September opening, attended by Seguro and Montenegro, broke the rule that official acts are non-confessional. It is an advisory body: its finding carries weight but no penalty.
The audience is set for 08:00 Lisbon time. The trip also takes in the Portuguese church in Rome and the Holy See's foreign minister, with an invitation for a papal visit to Fátima in 2027 on the table.
The Lisbon Court of Appeal has acquitted Father Ismael Teixeira, the priest known as the 'iron priest,' of sexual coercion against a former São Mamede parish employee, overturning a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence and dismissing the related civil claim.
The author of Portugal's Lei da Liberdade Religiosa (Religious Freedom Law) has issued a pointed warning as the legislation prepares to mark its 25th anniversary. Vera Jardim, president of the Comissão da Liberdade Religiosa (Commission for...
A portaria published in the Diário da República on 12 June 2026 inscribes the 180.49 km Caminho de Torres into the official Caminho de Santiago network, running from Sernancelhe to Valença across 15 municipalities and two UNESCO sites.
President of the Republic António José Seguro formalised the standing invitation to Papa Leão XIV for a state visit to Portugal in the calendar year 2027 , the Belém presidency office confirmed on its website on Tuesday 19 May 2026. The formal note...
