The city is the hosting 1,000 participants in an international congress on the topic, promoted jointly by the archdioceses of Brussels, Budapest, Paris and Vienna.
The International Congress for New Evangelization is being held in these five capitals between 2003 and 2007.
The Lisbon session «is trying to show the city that it is possible to speak of Jesus today, in a society that seems to forget the essential aspect of faith,» explained the organizers.
The congress, whose theme is «Christ Alive,» offers urban missions, conferences, laboratories, concerts, theatrical shows, exhibitions and Masses.
The congress’s center is the Jeronimos Monastery of Lisbon, although various celebrations are being held throughout the city.
The congress opened Saturday with the arrival in the cathedral of the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, patroness of the event, and with the welcome ceremony for the participants in the monastery.