Previous blog~ Goa, before the Portuguese arrived: a travel back in time
There has been much speculation, that it was indeed St. Francis Xavier who wrote a letter on May 16, 1545 to the King of Portugal, John III, exhorting him to take the most rigorous measures as may be required to propagate the Roman Catholic faith in Goa. For this he requested more preachers to be sent in order to complete his mission. Then there was also the need (as expressed in his letter) in protecting the converts.
Protecting the converts, from what!? one may ask. Most certainly, it means~ ensuring they don't slide back to their original local religion, customs and traditions.
If the claims made are true, then this undoubtedly is enough to break the hearts of most devout goan catholics. Especially those who have always revered St.Francis Xavier as their own Goēmcho Saib and associated him with the loving, compassionate God that he preached about and service to humanity.
Why is that?!
Because The Goa Inquisition has been recorded as one of the most horrifying chapters in conversion activities undertaken by the Roman Catholic Church in particular.
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| A Mario Miranda sketch depicting The Inquisition of Goa |
And although there are also those whose minds are made up, and don't want to be confused with facts! It is necessary to get a fair understanding about what transpired.
I browsed through a book titled The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier by Rev. HENRY J. COLERIDGE, of the Society of Jesus dated 1872.
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| A page from Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier by Rev. HENRY J. COLERIDGE, of the Society of Jesus dates 1872 |
The book is well-researched. Page 2 itself gave me an unsettling feeling. It indicates King John III of Portugal was indeed exhorted by Francis Xavier and the Vicar Miguel Vaz to suppress Hinduism, their customs and traditions, destroy their temples and idols.
For my own comfort, in as much as I would like to disregard this meeting between (Vicar) Miguel Vaz and Francis Xavier and the meaning of the letter therin, the fact remains that the dastardly event~ namely The Goa Inquisition did take place after all.
Despite this, one must note however that there were many individuals later on who kept the Inquisition pace in motion. Take the case of the influential Dom Gasper de Leão Pereira, who was Goa's first Archbishop. He was known for his intolerance against other faiths and complained a great deal to the King of Portugal.
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| This is the Archbishop's Palace at Altinho, Panjim. Dom Gasper de Leao Pereira was Goa's first Archbishop. It is now used as office of the Archdiocese of Goa, Daman and Diu |
What sparked (the causes for) The Goa Inquisition?
Every cause brings more than one Effect
I was born in a Roman Catholic household, raised by a conservative and god-fearing grandmother, studied at a convent school, attended Catechism class on a fine Sunday morning by sacrificing my favorite T.V. program, and got spanked on a Monday morning if and when they got to know that I skipped the Sunday class.
Most religions frankly give a damn about the fact that a child simply cannot comprehend the concept of God, heaven, hell, life and death. If kids were taught basic humanity, love, compassion and respect for fellow human beings without mixing God in this~ probably that would put an end to organized religions being the focal point of our existence.
So it is natural that I longed for The Truth.
While studying the possible causes that led to the horrible Goa Inquisition, this is what I found out~
The enactment of Romanus Pontifex by the Holy See at Vatican
I have explained at length the concept of Roman Catholicism and the meaning of Romanus Pontifex in my previous blog~ The spread of Christianity in Goa: 1510 to 1961
So after reading through, it is clear that we have drifted farther from God and nearer to the idea of organized religions, greed, the lust for power and political ambitions.
By way of Romanus Pontifex, the Pope had granted Portugal unhindered trade routes to Asia and African countries, in exchange for Portugal's effort in enforcing the Catholic faith and allegiance to Pontifex (which is The Holy See in Vatican). The Jesuits were the most influential religious Roman Catholic order that worked actively with the Vatican.
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| The heirarical order of the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic ecosystem with the Pope as the monarch. Below him were the Bishops and clergy. The lay faithful were at the bottom of the pyramid. All grace from God flowed from top to bottom, so that those at the bottom received very little. |
Fear and Insecurity grips Rome (the pope) and Portugal
Roman Catholicism undoubtedly dominated Europe during the 15th-16th century, but they still had a great deal to worry about in keeping with their ambitions.
Judaism, Islam and Protestantism
These three religions were posing a threat. The Sepharic Jews and North African muslims had previously routed out Christian rulers from the Iberian Peninsula and the Portuguese learnt that they had now entered Goa by masquerading as Roman Catholics. Besides, the Portuguese also wished to curb similar ambitions by the Protestants*
*Protestants are an earlier break-away sect of Christianity. They protested and emerged from Roman Catholicism.
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| An early altar in a Roman Catholic household. Most families still follow the custom of praying together |
Early Portuguese settlers in Goa and new converts
Portuguese settlers who had been in Goa since some time were basically civil servants, soldiers, sailors and workers. Many of them were now married to local goan women and had assimilated well into the local culture. News reached King John III of Portugal about how devout Catholics were pretty much adapting to and even following Indian customs.
As such, one of the tasks assigned to Francis Xavier was to restore the Christian faith among the previous Portuguese settlers.
Note~ Francis Xavier was himself a prosperous nobleman who was well-known to King John III of Portugal.
Even those who had recently converted either voluntarily or for certain privileges, still continued practicing their previous religious customs and traditions.
Goan Hindus who had so far resisted converting
Last but not least, there still were a great number of self-respecting goan hindus who had managed to resist getting converted.
The Portuguese lived in Goa as if they were here for good, and they wanted to do all that they could to give themselves that sense of permanence.
One of which was imposing Roman Catholicism on goan hindus.
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| A Hindu temple in Goa. Many temples were moved to Ponda, Goa for safekeeping during the Portuguese rule |
The Inquisition in Portugal
The idea of an Inquisition in Portugal during the early 1500s against the Jews, had set the ball rolling.
Atrocities against Humanity in the Name of GOD: The Goa Inquisition 1560
The Goa Inquisition was finally unleashed in 1560. The primary tenement of the Inquisition being
'to punish those who were charged with heresy against the Roman Catholic Church'
The punishments carried out on the innocent, and especially Hindus were Medieval and barbaric. It brought much anguish, horrors and sufferings to all those victims.
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| An unusual crucifix of Christ with open eyes at St. Sebastian's chapel, Fontainhas~ Goa is a reminder of The Goa Inquisition. It originally stood in the Palace of the Inquisition at Old Goa. The open eyes was meant to evoke guilt and the fear of God in the hearts of the helpless victims. |
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| Chapel of St.Sebastian at Fontainhas, Panjim |
There are many further resources available regarding the details of this horrific Goa Inquisition, which you can read about online. I encourage you to read. Check out ~
The Goa Inquisition by Anant Kakba Priolkar
My blog ends here. Feel free to share your comments and thoughts.
Back to~ The spread of Christianity in Goa : 1510 to 1961
Next blog~ How 450 years of Portuguese rule in Goa came to an end
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