ON THE EVE OF THE POPE'S VISIT
The building below, left, is the Apostolic Nunciature in Lisbon, where the Pope will be staying overnight.
Below, the altar-stage for the Pope's Mass takes shape in Lisbon's Terreiro do Paco; and the artist's concept of it.
The Prada shoe on top of a cab is 'conceptual art' by a local woman artist.
Above, children practice to welcome the Pope at the San Jeronimos monastery.
In Fatima:
Pope begins Portugal visit
LISBON, May 11 (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI begins a four-day trip to Portugal Tuesday in which he is likely to urge Lisbon to uphold Christian values and call for solidarity across Europe's struggling economies.
Tens of thousands of people in this overwhelmingly Catholic country lined the streets early to welcome
the beleaguered Pontiff, whose five-year-old papacy has been rocked by allegations that the Vatican actively covered up years of child sex abuse by priests in several countries.
Carlos Azevedo, the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon and the visit's co-ordinator, said the Pope would instead focus on Europe's economic crisis, which along with Greece has hit Portugal hardest.
"The Pope will encourage institutions to lend a hand and show solidarity during difficult times," Azevedo said Monday.
"Europe needs to be awoken, there is a lack of strong values. If there was greater ethical conscience, we would not have arrived at the current economic disaster."
Civil servants in the capital have been given the afternoon off to attend an evening open-air mass with Benedict in an historic square on the banks of the Tagus. The organisers expect up to 160,000 people to attend.
"We are going to experience this as a celebration," said Catarina Vieira, 26, one of dozens of blue-uniformed scouts setting up chairs at the mass site.
Extreme right: Streamer adorns facade of Diario de Noticias - can you imagine the New York Times ever doing anything like that?
Lisbon's bus shelters were decorated with posters of the Pope with a red robe against a green backdrop to resemble the Portuguese flag, while the yellow and white Vatican banner fluttered on all public buses.
Hundreds of police deployed since dawn along the eight kilometre (five mile) route from the airport to the papal nunciature which Benedict will take aboard his white bullet-proof Popemobile. Letter boxes along the route have been taped over.
Ligia Aguilar, opening her souvenir shop on a sidestreet, defended Benedict.
"Just because this Pope has a certain personality doesn't mean that I will stop being a believer. I would go to mass with any pope that comes to Portugal," she said.
The Pontiff will be welcomed by President Anibal Cavaco Silva days before he is due to sign into law a bill passed by {arliament which would make Portugal the sixth country to allow same-sex marriage.
Later he is to pray in the chapel of the 16th century Jeronimos monastery, whose renowned religious carvings have made it a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tuesday evening's Mass is one of three giant gatherings scheduled for the visit, the "heart" of which, according to the Vatican, will be his stop in Fatima, the site where three shepherd children reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary in 1917.
The Pope's visit to the sanctuary town comes exactly 10 years after his predecessor John Paul II beatified two of the children at the site, bringing them one step from sainthood.
A third open-air Mass is to be held in the northern city of Oporto on Friday, shortly before the Pope returns to Rome.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/05/2010 14:37]