PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL

“A system in which our children will not have to wonder whether tomorrow they will still have a homeland, but instead can rely on a forward-moving country that offers them a better life.”
— Francisco Sá Carneiro

“The upcoming elections will constitute, so we hope, a decisive milestone in the history of our country. All democratic parties—and especially those who helped defend the Constituent Assembly and, with it, our nascent democracy—share in the satisfaction, enthusiasm, and joy of the new electoral period now approaching.”
— Diogo Freitas do Amaral

“To secure a definitive victory, we insist on two essential and immediate conditions: first, unity among workers, unity of the people, unity of communists and socialists, unity with Catholics and liberals.”
— Álvaro Cunhal

“I am against all dictatorships and in favor of freedom. Without political freedom, nothing truly happens; in time, there is only decline. The danger is that there can be civilizational setbacks. In the past, as history teaches us, there have been many.”
— Mário Soares

“Today we live in the wake of a revolution achieved without bloodshed, one that opened paths of freedom before us. To walk those paths, absolute respect for public freedoms and civic rights is indispensable—rights we unfortunately see being put at risk.”
— Francisco Sá Carneiro

“No democracy is possible if deputies from different parties fail to establish, above the ideological boundaries that divide them, strong bonds of personal relationship. Political struggle may bring us farther apart here; I hope, however, that it will not prevent us from returning to one another more humanly close. I have spoken.”
— Diogo Freitas do Amaral

“Trust. Trust that our people, in alliance with the military of April 25, will lead our country along the path of freedom, democracy, and peace.”
— Álvaro Cunhal

“More important than indoctrination is leading people to think, to criticize, to discern.”
— Francisco Sá Carneiro

“I wish the parties of the left could understand one another, but I don’t want to ask for too much… Perhaps one day it will be possible. Let me recall something: German social democrats and communists spent their lives disagreeing and arguing—until Hitler appeared. They all ended up in concentration camps. We must think about that.”
— Mário Soares

“Not all who are willing to fight for freedom are willing to fight for socialism, but all who are willing to fight for socialism are ready to fight for freedom.”
— Álvaro Cunhal

“All the early years of my political life were precisely about drawing a line against the extreme right (…) contributing to the consolidation of democracy in our country and to the distinction between democratic and non-democratic right-wing forces. A candidate for president of all Portuguese must address all Portuguese. He must not be the one to divide them, to label them, to separate them.”
— Diogo Freitas do Amaral

“We are a non-Marxist left-wing party, and we will continue to be so.”
— Francisco Sá Carneiro

“Democracy does not represent merely a way of appointing rulers; it is also a method of exercising power. A true democrat cannot be content with being an elected dictator; he must be a man of dialogue.”
— Diogo Freitas do Amaral

“In a situation where the country is crouched on its knees, where everything has been destroyed, and where fear—or some other reason—prevents it from fighting, to come here and see you here shouting for freedom and democracy is, for me, the best gift you could have given!”
— Mário Soares

“We must trust the Portuguese people. I trust the Portuguese people and the genius of the Portuguese people.”
— Mário Soares

“When I have a free minute, I do as Mário Soares does: I go visit art galleries.”
— Francisco Sá Carneiro

Hear us, Lord.

Originally published in Portuguese in the newspaper Diário Insular-Angra do Heroísmo.

Translated by Diniz Borges