MRAR – the Portuguese “religious art renovation movement” (1954-1969) and the changes in the 20th century religious architecture in Portugal

Founded in 1954, the MRAR – Religious Art Renovation Movement was the product of the will of a group of architects, artists and historians, such as Nuno Teotónio Pereira, João de Almeida, Nuno Portas, Diogo Pimentel, Luíz Cunha, Manuel Cargaleiro, José Escada and Vitorino Nemésio, who were committed to giving religious buildings in Portugal greater dignity and artistic quality, in a formal opposition to the maintenance of traditionalist models. For fifteen years, the MRAR made a significant contribution to the Church’s and country’s cultural renewal through an artistic, political and pastoral programme that constituted the best example of religious and cultural intervention of an elite who operated an effective renewal of religious buildings, as well as an anthropological and sociological appreciation of liturgical space. After it came to an end, the high quality of architectural and theological discussion of religious buildings provided by MRAR was never repeated in Portugal.