O congresso de Roma

A Portuguese delegate addresses a crowd of 4,000 free‑thinkers gathered in Rome in 1904, delivering a fervent speech that frames the congress as a modern crusade for reason. He contrasts the Pope’s spiritual authority with the “power of science” and the temporal power of honest work, positioning the assembly as a collective stand against superstition, clerical privilege and the lingering grip of papal rule.

The oration weaves history, philosophy and polemic, evoking figures such as Haeckel, Berthelot, Garibaldi and Giordano Bruno to illustrate the triumph of enlightenment over dogma. Its tone is both celebratory and defiant, urging listeners to uphold liberty, tolerance and progress while rejecting the “fetishism” of religious institutions. The speech captures a pivotal moment in early‑20th‑century Portuguese secularism, offering a vivid glimpse of an era when intellectuals boldly challenged the old order.