Portuguese beaches to mix sun and sacraments

LISBON (AFP) - Sunseekers in central Portugal will have no excuse for missing mass this summer -- a local bishop is reportedly planning to hold services at some of the region's most popular beaches.

"Rest should not be empty time. Leisure only makes sense when it serves as a time for personal enrichment," Bishop Antonio Marcelino of the central port city of Aveiro told the weekly Expresso.

He added the initiative would "permit, during a time when people are more relaxed, a more serene reflection about life."

Weekly services will be offered in August at four beaches located near Aveiro, some 250 kilometres (150 miles) north of Lisbon, as well as at a popular nearby spa, he said.

Beaches are at their busiest in Portugal in August, traditionally the month when most Portuguese take their summer holidays.

Bishop Marcelino is considered to be one of Portugal's most liberal Roman Catholic officials, having argued in the past that the Vatican should consider the possibility of ordaining women as priests.

The vast majority of Portuguese continue to identify themselves as Roman Catholic even as church officials struggle against declining attendance at local churches in recent years.