Pious Festival

It looked like carnival time in Rio. Firecrackers popped, and from balconies flowers rained. Rio was welcoming a small (44 in., 33 Ibs.) white & gold statue of Our Lady of Fatima, whose famous shrine in Portugal is rivaling even Lourdes in popularity (TIME, May 14, 1951)As the statue, on tour of the world since the spring of 1947, moved through the streets in a gilded carriage, Cariocas followed, cheering and weeping. Even the devotees of African white magic came out of Rio favelas (hillside slums). Little girls, dressed as angels and as the Virgin herself, stood along the way.

Climax of the celebration was a midnight Mass in Rio's Municipal Stadium, jammed to nearly double capacity by the biggest turnout Rio could remember, topping even the most popular football game. Later, when a photographer's flashbulb exploded, a man blind for 27 years cried: "I see a light! Thank you, Nossa Senhora de Fatima!" Churchmen did not claim any miracles for the Lady, but others did, fervently. One man who said that the statue could work miracles was challenged by a skeptic. In the argument that followed, the two men drew their knives. The believer was stabbed to death.

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