Azorean diaspora can’t resist the powerful pull of home

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New York Times
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About a million North Americans were born in or descend from the Azores — four times the current population of these Portuguese islands in the middle of the Atlantic. Each year, thousands of former residents return to the Azores for the feast day in May to give thanks to the Christ of Miracles for helping them on their travels.

“This is the feast that symbolizes the hardship of the islands that they left and their opportunity to give thanks for having managed the difficult journey,” said Mario Silva, the cape’s donor, a former politician who was the first Portuguese-born member of the Canadian Parliament.

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