This event was announced by us in August. The following report was sent to Rorate by Mr. Rafael Cresci, a Brazilian Traditionalist Catholic. The pilgrimage described here is intended to be an annual event, Brazil's short version of the Traditional Catholic pilgrimage to Chartres.
In a display of unity 3 months in the making, more than 130 people went on a marvelous demonstration of faith in Christ and in His Church at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The last Sunday of October - in this year's case, the 30th day of the month - is traditionally consecrated in the liturgical calendar prior to the 1970 reform, to the solemnity of Christ the King. Instituted by Pius XI to remind us of the real meaning of the Lordship of Christ, His social kingdom, this feast brings us beautiful lessons and also implications.
The pilgrimage path had to be changed on the very last minute, as IBAMA (Brazilian National Institute of the Environment) forbade us to go the uphill section of the original path, with allegations of security issues despite a previous agreement with them, three months before, in a joint agreement between the group, the institute, and the archdiocese [who administers and owns the monument/statue itself, that is located inside the national park]. This was on Friday Oct 28 at 3PM. Thanks to the kind, prompt and generous help of His Excellency archbishop Dom Orani João Tempesta O.Cist and of Fr. Omar Raposo, the diocesan rector of the Sanctuary of Christ the Redeemer and chaplain of the same monument, an agreement was reached and instead we were allowed to go uphill by the tourist train, with them issuing us 100 free passes for that. This path deviation added two hours of extra downhill walk on a very steep hill and forced the group to break into smaller ones according to physical capability.
The full pilgrimage (20km / 12 miles) map can be seen at http://g.co/maps/ttf9x
People came from at least 15 cities throughout the country especially for the pilgrimage.
At Mass, we were joined by another 20 pilgrims (swelling our number to 150) as well as by tourists who were visiting the monument.
With a desire to reaffirm the lordship of Our Lord, the pilgrims began their walk at 9AM from a point in the beginning of the Tijuca forest, with Msgr. José de Mattos (Campos Apostolic Administration) giving the initial blessing at 10:30AM and leading them in prayers, the Holy Rosary (sung) and popular chants. The people on the natural trail, from bikers to joggers and families enjoying a bath on the multiple waterfalls that exist throughout that mountain path, were delighted by that unusual presence.
We reached then the church of St. Jude Thaddaeus, that was already active with the patron saint festivities and kermesse, and from there we concentrated and gathered, waiting for the remaining people (as some small groups had to stop for rest more than others, or were walking in a slower speed). The church is exactly in the front of the train station that took us uphill again directly to the statue. The Mass that was scheduled for 2PM began at 4PM instead. At the monument, we met with Fr. Anderson Batista (Archdiocese of Niterói), the mass celebrant, and with Fr. José Edilson de Lima (Camos Apostolic Administration) that helped with confessions, along with about 20 extra people that couldn't come for the walk but came for mass.
The day was hot but not sunny (until about 3PM), helping us in the walk. It was partially cloudy at the monument on the afternoon. A Missa Cantata was celebrated inside the chapel "hidden" in the base of the statue. Since it only accomodates 20 people, the ones inside it were only the clergy, the choir, the elderly and children. Everybody else stayed outside, under winds ranging between 40 and 80 km/h (25-50 mph) that carried away some missals and some women's veils. Tourists present at the place joined us at Mass of Christ the King, in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (our pilgrimage intends to be an yearly event in the format of Chartres and Luján, always at Christ the King Sunday), sung à capella by the choir and disputing volume with the wind.
At 6PM, Mass ended and we did a procession to the stairs in front of the statue, making the classic family photo on the classic landscape of the open-armed Christ, meeting two traditions, and singing hymns in honor of the Kingship of Our Lord, making the tourists even more amazed and curious. See you next year!
The initiative of the event was an independent joint-venture by Catholic groups on social networks (Facebook, Orkut) and some Catholic blogs, including Salvem a Liturgia (www.salvemaliturgia.com) who did the initial proposal of the event. Iuventutem's Niterói chapter was fully present.
