"Near the sky ... in a spaceship": devotional reform and religious tourism in the Sanctuary of Lima (Patu-RN, 1936-1979)

Abstract

The Sanctuary of Lima is the oldest pilgrimage center of Rio Grande do Norte. Built on January 29, 1758, the little hermitage dedicated to Our Lady of the Impossibles, on the top of the Lima Mountain, in Patu, became an important point of convergence for pilgrims. From 1921 onwards, the sanctuary was handed over to the Holy Family Missionaries from the Netherlands who took responsibility for the restructuring of the sanctuary and for the guidance of devotional practices. The purpose of this article is to understand the actions of devotional reform and the uses of the Sanctuary of Lima as a tourist attraction. From the records published in Catholic and lay newspapers, the analysis of the construction of representations about the religious space in the scope of the Diocese of Mossoró and the state public power was carried out. With this, one can perceive the confluence between the orientations of the devotional practices of the popular layers and the construction of an imagery discourse as attractive for tourists and pilgrims.