The Estreito region was part of the Parish of São José since 1755, until it was created by Episcopal Decree on November 25, 1944. The Parish of Nossa Senhora de Fátima, with the Mother Church inaugurated in January of the following year. Many difficulties were faced in the construction of the church, mainly due to the resistance of the faithful to the new location. This was criticized for being located on a higher portion of land and also because of the hope that many had that the chapel of Bom Jesus dos Aflitos, close to the old loggers and the point of embarkation of the ferries that made the crossing between the Island and the Continent. , was enlarged.
On the other hand, according to Iaponan Soares, the Livro Tombo da Paróquia records that the first version of the project, authored by the architect Paulo Mota, was very expensive. He then made another “under the more direct indication of the vicar, a plan in a modernized Gothic-Basilica style, which was approved by the Metropolitan Curia. Unfortunately, the plan was limited to the design of the facade, floor plan and, separately, some crude, deficient and incomplete pencil sketches of some part of the interior, as the architect moved to Rio de Janeiro and this alone served as construction guide”.
The Nossa Senhora de Fátima Church holds traditional Catholic celebrations, such as weddings, masses and baptisms. In 1987, it was elevated to the category of Sanctuary; in the celebrations that followed, an imposing image of Our Lady of Fátima, almost five meters high and weighing 1200 kilos, was placed on the church tower.
