{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 36,
  "chapterName": "1548. Xavier’s Letter to the King of Portugal",
  "pageFrom": 35,
  "pageTo": 37,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 35,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n35\n35. LETTER OF MIGUEL VAZ TO KING\nJOAO III (1545 A.D.)\nMiguel Vaz was the Vicar General stationed at Bassein. This\nletter, written in November, 1545, reveals the role played by the\nPortuguese king in ecclesiastical affairs. Documentacao para a Historia\ndas Missoes do Padroado Portugues do Oriente, Vol. III, pp. 212-213.\nCited in G. M. Moraes, A History of Christianity in India, p. 169.\nBassein is among the best lands, if not the best, Your Highness\npossesses on the Indian coast. It has been yielding large revenue\nfor many years. But there is not a single church there, nor yet\nin the entire territory extending over fifteen leagues or more.\nNeither are there any means by which we could disabuse our\nsubjects of the errors in which they live; and impress upon them\nthe necessity and obligation of accepting our Holy Faith. It seems\nbut right that this work be undertaken by some men who, working\nin that region, could wean the people from idolatry and Islam\nboth of which are flourishing there. The best way to achieve this\nis for Your Highness to build a church, granting the purposes of\nconversion, two thousand padraos a year from what comes through\nGod's bounty in this territory. Placing this sum in the hands of\nreliable men to spend on this head and entrusting them with the\nwork, they would be able to do much in your service as well as for\nthe salvation of their neighbours. For until the present a sum\nof three thousand, which is raised in the name of the factories,\nis spent for the glory of Muhammad and for maintaining the\nmosques. This I know from the information which, I think, for\nthe reasons they gave me, to be correct.\n36. XAVIER'S LETTER TO THE KING OF PORTUGAL\n(1548 A.D.)\nIn this letter, written from Cochin and dated January 20, 1548,\nXavier asks the king to instruct the Portuguese officials in India to\nassume direct responsibility for supporting the work of the missions.\nJ. N. Ogilvie, The Apostles of India, Appendix II, pp. 437-440.\nTo come to a matter which concerns myself individually. I have\noften pondered in my own mind, after carefully considering the\nquestion on every side, what I could write to your Majesty, as to\nthe best means of spreading, and of firmly establishing, the Christian\nfaith in this country. I am impelled to this course, on the one hand,\nfrom my desire to obey God and to promote his glory. I am\ndeterred from doing it, on the other hand, because I despair of ever",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 36,
      "ocrText": "36\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nseeing my proposal carried into effect. Yet it has not appeared\npossible for me to be silent with a safe conscience, especially as it is\nevident to me that the thought has been put into my mind from\nabove, for some special purpose and I cannot devise any more\nprobable reason for God having thus revealed the matter to me, than\nthat I might make it known to your Majesty. And yet, again I\ntremble, lest, while I thus relieve my mind of its burden, my very\nletter may prove a testimony against your Majesty before God in\nyour last hour, and aggravate your doom in the day of Judgement,\nby depriving you of the plea of ignorance. I beseech your Majesty\nto believe that this fear greatly distresses me, since I am deeply\nconscious that I have no wish or intention, beyond finishing my\nlabours and spending my life here in India, in working for the\nsalvation of the souls. I trust that, by so doing, I may, to the best\nof my ability, relieve you of the weighty duties resting upon you,\nand, by discharging a part of your proper function, may lighten\nthe burden of thy Majesty's conscience, and enable you to await\nwith greater safety the terrible decision of the last day. Your great\nlove for the Society is such, that I ought to think this benefit cheaply\npurchased for you at the cost of any labour or troubles of my own.\nThese conflicting anxieties, Sire, between my duty and your danger\nhave, I confess, caused me extreme agitation and distress, but at last\nI have made up my mind, once and for all, to relieve my conscience\nof the burden which I have long concealed.\nHere, then, is the discovery which I have made during my long\nexperience in India, Malacca, and the Moluccas, and which make\nme sick at heart. Your Majesty must receive it as a certain truth,\nthat much is neglected which God requires to be done in this country\nand elsewhere, through the hurtful and disgraceful rivalries which,\nunder the mask of sanctity, prevail amongst your officers, arising\nout of trivial and concealed causes of offense. One declares-\n'It is my duty to do this, and I will suffer no one else to usurp the\nhonour of it': another says If I am not the doer of it, I have no\nwish to see others do it': whilst a third complains- I am bearing\nthe burden and heat of the day, whilst others receive all the profits\nand thanks'. With their passions heated by these altercations,\nthey each strive, both by correspondence and manoeuvres, to further\ntheir own interests. Thus, time is consumed, opportunities are\nlost, and no place is found for the things which relate to the cause\nof God. In the same way it often happens that the honour of your\nMajesty, and interests of your empire in India are neglected.\nI have discovered one only remedy for this evil the adoption of\nwhich, if I mistake not, would both increase the number of Chris-\ntians in these parts, and protect those amongst them who now\nsuffer injuries from the want of powerful patrons; so that no one,\neither the Portuguese or Indians, would dare to molest or despoil",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 37,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n37\nthem. That remedy is, that your Majesty should signify and\nclearly explain your intention, both by letter to the Viceroy and\nmagistrates now in India, and verbally to those whom you may\nhereafter send here, that you confide that which is your principal\ncare-namely, the spreading of our holy faith, to the Viceroy and\nGovernor of each province, more even than to all the ecclesiastics\nand priests who are in India; that you will call each of them strictly\nto account; and that you will impute to them every success or failure\nin this respect, and reward or punish them accordingly.\nIn order that there may be no mistake about this declaration,\nI should wish you to mention each of us who are in these parts by\nname, declaring that you do not lay upon us, either individually\nor collectively, the duty which conscience demands of you; but\nthat wherever there is any opportunity of spreading Christianity,\nit rests upon the Viceroy or Governor of the place, and upon him\nalone. That, since God has imposed imposed upon your ur Majesty the\nweighty duty of watching over the salvation of the souls of your\nsubjects, you can only demand the fulfilment of this duty from those\nto whom you have delegated your authority, and honour of the\nmagistracy and who therefore represent the person of your Majesty\nin this country. And if you find that, owing to the negligence of\nany one of them, few have embraced the faith of Christ within the\nlimits of his jurisdiction, you will develop upon him the punish-\nments which, otherwise, such neglect would call down upon your\nown head; - you have already given them full warning, that\nyou have committed to your chief officers here the weighty charge\nof imbuing the souls of your heathen subjects with the faith of\nChrist.\nWhenever, therefore, the Viceroy or Governors write to you,\nlet them describe the state of Christianity; the number and quality\nof the converts from heathenism; what hopes, what means there\nare of adding to their number; that for information upon these\npoints you will trust only to their letters, passing over without\nnotice all other reports, from whomsoever they come. Your\nMajesty should solemnly pledge your word, in the diplomas by\nwhich you institute and confer power on any one, that you u will\nseverely punish the Governor of any town or province in which\nfew neophytes are added to our Holy Church, when it seems plain\nthat, if it had been the wish of those in authority, many converts\nmight have been secured. I very earnestly desire that you should\ntake an oath, invoking most solemnly the name of God, that in case\nany Governor thus neglects to spread the faith, he shall, on his\nreturn to Portugal, be punished by close imprisonment for many\nyears, and all his goods and possessions shall be sold, and devoted\nto works of charity. In order that none may flatter themselves\nthat this is but an idle threat, you must declare, as plainly as possible,",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}