Pope Benedict XVI used a famous Portuguese shrine to the Virgin Mary on Thursday as a venue to denounce abortion and gay marriage, just days before Portugal is expected to join five European countries that have legalized same-sex weddings. In a speech here to Catholic social service groups, Benedict called for initiatives aimed at protecting 'the family based on the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman, help to respond to some of today's most insidious and dangerous threats to the common good.' He also said he expressed his 'deep appreciation for all those social and pastoral initiatives aimed at combating the socioeconomic and cultural mechanisms which lead to abortion, and are openly concerned to defend life and to promote the reconciliation and healing of those harmed by the tragedy of abortion.' The audience in a chapel at the shrine gave the pope a standing ovation. The pope's remarks came on the third day of a four-day visit aimed at shoring up Christian belief in increasingly secular Europe, although it has been somewhat eclipsed by the sexual-abuse scandal confronting the Vatican in recent weeks. Benedict also has used the visit to signal a more forceful tone in confronting the abuse, which he has called a 'sin inside the church.' Although it is 90 percent Catholic, Portugal has seen a notable shift away from Catholic teaching in recent years. The country legalized abortion in 2008 and its Parliament recently approved a bill permitting same-sex marriage. President Anibal Cavaco Silva is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days. The church has opposed the measure, but Portuguese society appears to be largely supportive. Portugal would be the sixth country in Europe to legalize same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Norway and Sweden. France and Denmark recognize same-sex unions, which convey many but not all of the rights enjoyed by married couples. Throughout his 5-year-old papacy, Benedict has endeavored to shape a new identity for the church as a 'creative minority' in an increasingly secular Europe. On Thursday, he denounced 'the pressure exerted by the prevailing culture, which constantly holds up a lifestyle based on the law of the stronger, on easy and attractive gain.' The pope also told the social service groups to find alternatives to state financing so they would not be subject to legislation at odds with Catholic teaching, urging them to 'ensure that Christian charitable activity is granted autonomy and independence from politics and ideologies, even while cooperating with state agencies in the pursuit of common goals.' Addressing bishops later on Thursday, Benedict called for 'authentic witnesses to Jesus Christ' in 'those human situations where the silence of the faith is most widely and deeply felt: among politicians, intellectuals, communications professionals who profess and who promote a monocultural ideal, with disdain for the religious and contemplative dimension of life.' He added that 'in such circles are found some believers who are ashamed of their beliefs and who even give a helping hand to this type of secularism, which builds barriers before Christian inspiration.' Earlier on Thursday, Benedict celebrated Mass before an estimated half a million faithful on the anniversary of the day three peasant children are said to have seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary here in 1917. Tradition has it that the Virgin revealed three secrets to the children: One was interpreted as predicting the end of World War I and the start of World War II, the second to have predicted the rise and fall of communism, which gave Fatima an anti-communist allure during the Cold War. Pope John Paul II credited the Virgin of Fatima with saving him from an assassination attempt in 1981. In 2000, the Vatican revealed the third secret of Fatima, which it said prefigured the attempt. Since arriving in Portugal on Tuesday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the beatification of two of the peasant children, Benedict has sought to broaden the significance of the message of Fatima to help the church overcome its difficulties in the sexual-abuse scandal. 