Holy Spirit celebrations are one of the key links that bring together Azoreans living in the archipelago and in the diaspora communities throughout the world.

The statement was made by the Regional Secretary of the Presidency at the opening of the 5th Conference on Holy Spirit Festivities. The event gathers nearly one hundred scholars from the archipelago, Mainland Portugal, Brazil, the United States and Canada, who will be debating this theme on Terceira from until Sunday.

André Bradford stressed the importance of this event in the Azores, organised by the Regional Directorate for Communities, for being a moment to demonstrate the "unity and cohesion of the great brotherhood of Azoreans scattered throughout the world."

Recalling the 4th edition of the conference, held in the city of San Jose in California two years ago, the government official said that he had the opportunity to follow the works, noting that this initiative "is simultaneously is a celebration of the Holy Spirit cult as a representation of what that is to be Azorean, "but it also "means that there are people who have dedicate themselves to preserve the memory of this celebration and, hence, they should be acknowledged for that."

Given this effort, he added, "the Regional Government, through the Regional Directorate for Communities, must support and take part in this work so that we may continue the good results we have achieved so far."

Furthermore, André Bradford stressed that these meetings are an opportunity to become aware of the diversity of Holy Spirit celebrations, which vary from island to island, sometimes even within the same island, and from community to community.

The programme of the conference, which a coronation and a "função" (Holy Spirit communal meal) to take place in São Brás on Sunday, intends to provide a privileged a spaces and conditions so that the representative of communities/brotherhoods may share among themselves their experiences about the Holy Spirit celebrations. Moreover, this initiative also aims to promote the debate on the evolution of the Holy Spirit cult over the centuries, which gave rise to the current festivities, as well as to provide participants with an opportunity to contact with the people who promote and organise these celebrations in the Azores. Therefore, they will have the opportunity experience the feeling that are common to the Azorean people, but which take different forms according to the place where the celebrations take place.

In the sidelines of this opening session, the Secretary of the Presidency welcomed on behalf of the President of the Government, Carlos César, the President of the City Council of Gravataí in Brazil, Vail Corrêa, and the members of the municipal assembly who are participating in the conference, Tânia Ferreira and Carlito Nicolait.