Everyone has known it was coming for four years, but suddenly there is a form of rising hysteria in the media over the cost of World Youth Day, the largest gathering of young catholics from around the world, scheduled for August. Commentators are suggesting the fact that “so many aspects of this project” have been awarded without recourse to tender will become ‘a scandal for the future’. There is acrimony over what everything is likely to cost – and great focus on the expense of the ‘altar-stage’. Latest news today is that President Marcelo has appealed to the Church and Lisbon City Council to ‘rethink’ the roughly €6 million this grandiose construction will cost, and throw out altogether all thoughts of constructing a second stage in Eduardo VII park. For the non-religious, this is all being seen as unnecessary spending, and a potential vipers nest for cronyism.
