The Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities announced this week in the United States that the Government of the Azores intends to organize a Global Holy Spirit Forum in 2025.
Paulo Estêvão, who participated in the Great Feast of the Holy Spirit in New England, explained that the initiative should promote debate between different experts from the Azores and the Azorean diaspora on popular worship in praise of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity.
This Global Forum could be held threefold on the occasion of the Great Feasts of the Holy Spirit, which take place in Ponta Delgada, in the Azores, New England, in the United States, and Santa Catarina, in Brazil. It could also be extended to the town of Alenquer, on the Portuguese mainland, which is considered the cradle of the commemorations.
For Paulo Estêvão, the festivities in praise of the Divine Holy Spirit are “the most representative cultural manifestation of Azorean identity in the world” and therefore “deserve an interdisciplinary and international approach that is capable of addressing their past, present and future”.


He added that this same approach could be extended in the future to a second Global Forum, this time dedicated to the cult of Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres, to be held on the occasion of its most representative festivals in the Azores, Canada, and Bermuda.
The Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities represented the Government of the Azores at the 38th annual Great Feast of the Holy Spirit in New England, which took place in the city of Fall River from August 23 to 26, accompanied by the Regional Director for Communities, José Andrade.
Speaking on Monday at the closing banquet of the Great Feast, which brought together around 500 people representing the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Paulo Estêvão announced that the new government of the Azores “intends to continue the essentials of the policy of relationship with the Azorean communities developed by successive previous governments, regardless of the legitimate ideological differences of each one, but will innovate and deepen its action with its own initiatives”.
“Most of the people of the Azores live in America,” and so ‘we must intensify our presence among the Azorean diaspora,’ he said, giving the example of ‘the need to strengthen institutional support for the associative movement and the media of our communities.’


Paulo Estêvão recalled a historic quote from US President John Kennedy: “Don’t ask your country what it can do for you; ask yourself what you can do for your country.” He added, “Our emigrants have already done a lot for the Azores, but now it’s time to ask what we can do for our emigrants.”
“If there is one thing that unites us in the Azores, it is the defense and appreciation of the Azorean diaspora,” he concluded.
On his first official visit to the United States as Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities, Paulo Estêvão met with entities representing the Azorean communities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, participated in the Great Feast of the Holy Spirit in New England, and visited Portuguese-speaking media outlets in Fall River and New Bedford.

In Diário dos Açores – Osvaldo Cabral, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.