Paper short abstract:

Based on fieldwork in Fátima this paper explores the experiences of Portuguese migrants visiting this shrine that is also a national heritage site. Pilgrimage emerges as a powerful tool to come to terms with migration experiences as well as to effectively develop the multiple identity work required.

Paper long abstract:

Based on fieldwork at the Marian shrine of Fátima in Portugal, this paper explores the experiences of Portuguese migrants living in Europe or North America who make pilgrimages to Fátima. It analyses the ways in which Fátima emerges as a pilgrimage site but also as a national heritage shrine. Our Lady of Fátima, worshiped as the queen of Portugal and Mother of the Nation but also as the Heavenly Mother, becomes a reference figure that is especially important for Portuguese migrants forced to leave their home country for economic reasons.

Through their creative rituals and through walking pilgrimages to Fátima these migrants embody their love and longing for their "motherland" as well as their troubled belonging to two different nations, the one they live in and the one they come from. This double belonging is also manifested through specific official celebrations organized at the shrine such as the "Pilgrimage of Migrants" held every August. The presentation of Fátima as a religious shrine but also as part of Portuguese national heritage through a process of "heritagization of the sacred", allows also self-proclaimed non-religious migrants to find in Fátima a place where they can experience a sense of belonging. Building on findings from scholars exploring other pilgrimage shrines, this paper shows how pilgrimage sites emerge as a powerful catalyst allowing its visitors to come to terms with migration experiences as well as to effectively develop the kind of multiple identity work required.