Public Access to the Unorthodox Sacred Via Portuguese Urban Spaces

Drawing on numerous interviews carried out in 2010, this paper focuses on the popular cult surrounding a medical doctor famous for helping the poor, Dr. Sousa Martins, who died over a century ago in Lisbon. Because of contested rumors of Sousa Martins’ having been Freemason and having committed suicide, he is unlikely to ever be canonized within the Catholic Church, and the cult of devotion surrounding him exists completely outside of the church’s authority. The popular devotion toward Sousa Martins involves thousands of Portuguese of all ages whose numbers appear to be growing. Devotees believe that Dr. Sousa Martins can cure their illnesses, find jobs and homes for them, and even conduct 'spiritual surgery' on them to remove cancer.  Despite the fact that the Church does not condone this devotion, the cult is enabled – and its ritual activities organized – by three public spaces within and near Lisbon (his statue, his tomb, and his home-turned-museum)  in which devotees can  openly ‘communicate’ with Sousa Martins to ask for his help (especially medical cures), bring him offerings, and leave gifts of thanks for miracles performed. The fact that this devotion has no organizing institution also means there is room for active individuals to guide it in particular directions. Such individuals include a charismatic female medium, a seer-turned-writer who has written numerous popular books on Dr. Sousa Martins, and the owner of a kiosk selling cult objects, who has invented rituals for communicating with the doctor which she tells to her customers. This paper will explore the importance of the public spaces through which devotees 'communicate' with Dr. Sousa Martins, how this communication takes place, and how these public spaces connect to charismatic Christianity and other, more private spaces such as sessions with spiritual mediums who claim to be able to communicate with Dr. Sousa Martins.