«GRAI – Grupo Reflexão/Acção/ Intervenção»: um modo «consciente, activo e interveniente» de servir a igreja e a sociedade na transição democrática portuguesa

This paper presents some preliminary findings from ongoing research focused on previously unpublished documentation accessed by the author, relating to GRAI – Reflection/Action/Intervention Group, a collective of clergies from the Diocese of Porto formally established on 14 May 1974. The group emerged in response to the imprisonment of two fellow presbyters who had refused to serve in the Armed Forces as military chaplains. Starting with a brief analytical description of the documentary sources, the paper offers reflections on the functioning and modus operandi of the group, as well as on the intra- and extra-ecclesial issues around which its «reflection/action/intervention» revolved. By clarifying the context and motivations behind the group’s formation, as well as the framework, dynamics, and scope of its activities, the study aims to shed light on the group’s significance within the broader context of the critical ferment—often described as “opposition” and “resistance”—not only to the Colonial War, but more broadly to the entire political, social, and ecclesial “situation” experienced by the protagonists in the early months of 1974, particularly within the ecclesiastical and geographical setting of Porto.