The parochial church of Ponta Delgada resulted from the reconstruction of the old hermitage, around 1763, under the initiative of Father Francisco de Fraga e Almeida. Initially, the parish also included the areas of Ponta and Ponta Ruiva, but which were later deannexed to form the parishes of the Fajãs (in 1676) and Nossa Senhora do Pilar (in 1693), respectively. About the same time, José António de Sousa Bettencourt, a natural and property-owner from the island of Graciosa, began constructing a hermitage in the area of Caveira, that was consecrated on 22 December 1763, to the invocation of the "Sainted Souls of the Flames of Purgatory" (). At the time, the inhabitants (numbering about 100 in 32 homes) were subject to the "spiritual and corporal convenience" of the parish of São Caetano in Lomba, since July 1757. Unfortunately, this parish operated in the neighbouring municipality of Lajes, and the parishioners were required to trek the distance for services between valleys. This continued until 1833 and 1834, when the little settlement of Caveira was transformed into a parish, thereby obtaining the patron of "Benditas Almas" ("Blessed Souls"), from 1954 on the invocation of "Nossa Senhora do Livramento" ("Our Lady of Freedom")).