On the morning of Sunday, March 8th, under a driving rain, fervor did not waver in the streets of Fortaleza, in northeastern Brazil. Nearly seven thousand Catholics took part in the fifteenth edition of the Archdiocesan Penitential Walk, a major spiritual event of this Lenten season, marked this year by a strong pastoral call from the Archbishop in favor of the dignity of women.
Carrying a large wooden cross, the crowd walked five kilometers from the parish church of Our Lady of Health, in the Mucuripe neighborhood, to the Metropolitan Cathedral. A particularly significant aspect of this journey of conversion was that numerous priests walked alongside the faithful throughout the route in order to hear confessions, thus offering the sacrament of reconciliation at the very heart of the physical effort. According to the archdiocesan services, this walk stands as one of the moments most deeply rooted in local tradition, inviting the People of God to prayer and a demanding interior preparation for the feast of Easter.
The event, which is usually held on the third Sunday of Lent, coincided this year with International Women's Rights Day. Upon arrival at the cathedral, Archbishop Gregório Paixão of Fortaleza seized the opportunity in his homily to urgently alert consciences to the scourge of violence against women. Recalling a tragic national reality, the prelate emphasized that four women are murdered every day in Brazil because of their gender.
He denounced femicide as a "cancer that must be extirpated," calling it a true "pain in the heart of God." The Archbishop recalled the divine plan, emphasizing that the Creator gave women so that they could continue the work of creation alongside men.
Drawing on the day's Gospel recounting the encounter at the well between Christ and the Samaritan woman, Archbishop Paixão highlighted Jesus' attitude, who, far from condemning the woman or being troubled by her presence, offers her new life. "Every person was made to be welcomed, respected, and never to be defiled," insisted the Archbishop, inviting the faithful to understand and imitate this Christ-like approach.
In a final concrete appeal addressed to families, the prelate exhorted men to love their wives ever more, to prioritize dialogue, and never to raise their voices against them. He also encouraged women to break the silence, asking them to denounce any situation of violence they might be aware of in their surroundings, thus linking the spiritual exigency of Lent to concrete charity and justice.