Azorean Catholicism has one very distinctive characteristic which sets it apart from mainstream Catholic practice. In the Azores there is a deep attachment to the Cult of the Holy Spirit ( Culto do Divino Espírito Santo). The notion of a triune Deity is deeply embedded in mainstream Christianity with reverence accorded to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost). At Pentecost of course, the Holy Spirit stands centre stage in prayer and liturgies, but Azorean Catholics show a remarkable year-round devotion to the Holy Spirit.
There are small chapels dedicated to the Holy Spirit in villages across the islands, and these form the focus for private or communal prayer and festivities — some of the latter quite secular in character. Following earthquakes or eruptions, the reconstruction of these small chapels is often prioritised over the rebuilding of the ‘official’ parish church.
In some sense, these community chapels are the Catholic analogues to a small prayer room (or musalla) in Islam, the shtiblekh in for Hasidic Jewish communities of central Europe or the simple wooden chapels found in Orthodox Europe.
With an emphasis on charismatic gifts, personal prayer and community solidarity, the social networks around these village chapels underpin traditional Azorean society. This cultural and religious tradition was exported from the islands to Brazil, and there influenced the liberation theology of the 1970s, spawning a strand of Catholicism deeply influenced by Marxist thought and notions of social justice. Azorean Catholics may not always have identified with Marxism, but as islanders well used to the challenge of living in isolated communities, they were (and still are) committed to notions of community solidarity. The Holy Spirit chapels, easily recognisable by their distinctive iconography (look for the tell-tale Pentecostal dove), are strong architectural expressions of local faith and culture. For emigrants from the islands, Pentecost is often the preferred time for a return visit to the Azores.
