The importance of Lusophony, both in the past and today, was the central theme of the luncheon debate organized by the Cultural Council of Círculo Eça de Queiroz, featuring Dom Duarte Pio de Bragança. The discussion focused on the role of the Portuguese language in the world, its historical influence, and its timeless legacy.
In his speech, Dom Duarte Pio emphasized the significance of Lusophony as a bond of cultural and political unity, highlighting the Portuguese language as a fundamental instrument of exchange between civilizations. He also stressed the need for closer dialogue among Lusophone countries in today’s global context.
The Portuguese language, official in nine countries and spoken by over 260 million people, was the guiding thread of the debate. The discussion highlighted its global presence, not only within the Lusophone universe—which includes Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste—but also in Asia, where dialects derived from Portuguese persist, and in languages such as Japanese and Bahasa Indonesian, which have incorporated hundreds of Portuguese words.
For António Aires Gonçalves, President of the Cultural Council, “Discussing the centrality of Lusophony in this space, which pays tribute to the greatest Portuguese writer of the modern era, is a tribute to our cultural identity and the legacy we project for the future.”
The event reinforced Círculo Eça de Queiroz as a forum for dialogue and exchange of ideas, where culture and history converge to illuminate the present and shape the future.