Church of the Third Order of the Holy Trinity

In 1733, the Brotherhood of the Rosary and the Holy Trinity took a piece of land from the parish of Santo Antônio Além do Carmo to build a chapel dedicated to both Our Lady of the Rosary and the Holy Trinity.[1] This temple was built on the hill which gives access to the Água de Meninos neighbourhood.[1] In 1739, the Brotherhood opted to build a larger temple in the current location[1] In his 1800 document describing the city, Luís dos Santos Vilhena notes that the temple was known as Church of the Rosary.[1] In this document, the church is described as having no towers yet.[1]

In 1806, Pope Pius VII extinguished the Brotherhood of the Rosary and the Holy Trinity and created, in its place, the Third Order of the Holy Trinity – hence the church's name.[1] In 1877, the government of Bahia donated the area of the Bom Jesus cemetery to the Order.[1] In 1888, a fire consumed most of the church, leaving only its exterior walls intact.[1] In 1968, the right tower collapsed after a storm.[1] In 1990, the last mass was held in the church and it was completely abandoned for the next ten years.[2]

In 2000, a Catholic monk named Henrique Peregrino organized a pilgrimage to Salvador and included the church in his travel itinerary.[2] To his and his fellow pilgrims surprise, the church was closed.[2] He then sought local Catholic authorities regarding the possibly of re-opening the church so that it could serve as a shelter for the poor.[2] According to Peregrino, around a hundred people are assisted by him each year.[2] Since 2007,[1] he edits a bi-monthly newspaper called Aurora da Rua, which has a circulation of 10.000 and aims to generate income for the homeless people he shelters in the abandoned church.[2]

The church is located on a flat terrain in the flank of the escarpment that divides Salvador in the Higher City and the Lower City.[3][4] Its location in Avenida Jequitáia is near the Água de Meninos fish market, and the church building is accessed by a stairway. It has three aisles and its façade contains Rococo and Neoclassical elements,[1][2] although it was decharacterized by the 1888 fire, poorly planned and implemented restorations, and the crumbling of the right tower in 1968.[4] According to the Institute of Artistic and Cultural Heritage of Bahia, the building was "damaged by the insertion of non-conforming elements such as concrete slabs in the galleries".[3] It no longer has windows[4] and its images – "of the Holy Trinity, Our Lady of the Remedy and many others of lesser importance" – were collected by members of the Order due to the state of deterioration of the building.[3] The members of the Trinity community have promoted small restorations and included, in the altar, images and religious elements from the various religions present in Salvador.[3] Around the church there are 20 houses, some of which are rented or made available for the members of the Trinity community.[3]

The Trinity community is a civil society group that provides assistance to the homeless population that live around the Historic Center of Salvador.[3] Founded by the Catholic monk Henrique Peregrino, it refuses the label of non-governmental organization, considering that its philosophy and action differ from the NGO philosophy.[3] There are 45 permanent residents in the church grounds, in addition to 50–60 homeless people which attend ecumenical cults and banquets held each Thursday.[3] The food is prepared by the residents and the maintenance and cleaning of the spaces is made by everyone.[3] Although it mostly caters to adults, the Trinity community maintains a project aimed specifically at young people.[3] This project is run by a team formed by seven educators and two therapists, treating on average 50 to 60 children per day, performing a total of 1,200 consultations per month.[3]

The community aims to overcome the homelessness of its members by adopting a five-step program.[3] The first step is that of food: it is about feeding, sharing the meal and participating in its preparation, putting and end in the begging for food.[3] The second step concerns the reception of newcomers, regardless of their situation – they may be either guests or new members of the Community.[3] The third step is caring: regularizing the documentation of the homeless and/or restoring their health.[3] The fourth step involves gaining independence through income generation: the community members produce sacred art and grow flowers and fruits for sale; they collect cardboard to sell for recycling; and sell the Aurora da Rua newspaper, which they write themselves.[3] There are also cases in which members of the Trinity community gain access to a formal job through covenants that Peregrino maintains with private companies.[3] The fifth and final step is gaining access to housing, and it represents an end with the homelessness situation.[3]

• Official page of the Trinity community (in Portuguese)
• News about the church in the website of the Archdiocese of São Salvador (in Portuguese)