{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 31,
  "chapterName": "1543. First Inquisition at Goa",
  "pageFrom": 26,
  "pageTo": 26,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 26,
      "ocrText": "26\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\n31. FIRST INQUISITION AT GOA (1543 A.D.)\nThough the Inquisition was officially instituted at Goa only in\n1560, it was anticipated in the incident described by Gasper Correia in\nLendas da India, Livro quarto, Tomo IV, pp. 292-294, cited in A. K.\nPriolkar, The Goa Inquisition, pp. 22-23.\nIn this very year (1543) it came to pass that a bachelor of\nmedicine residing in Goa, named Jeronimo Dias, of the caste of\nNew Christians, in the course of familiar discourses with his friends,\nspoke of certain things which were against our holy faith. The\nbishop, on being informed of this, ordered that he should be arrested\nand tried and that witnesses should be examined. When arrested,\ntogether with certain other persons who had discoursed with him,\nhe continued to uphold certain things of the old law against our\nholy faith, all of which showed clearly that he was a Jew, and the\nproceedings were concluded. The bishop thereupon went to the\nresidence of the Governor where a council was held, at which were\nalso present the teacher Diogo (Borba), Friar Antonio, commis-\nsary of St. Francis and preacher, another Dominican preacher and\nthe Vicar General (Miguel Vaz). Having seen the papers of the\ncase, they pronounced sentence, which was signed by the Bishop\nand ran as follows: 'Having seen the sentence of the Holy Church,\nin which bachelor Jeronimo Dias, stands condemned in a case of\nheresy, the justice of our sire the King, pronounces sentence to the\neffect that in respect of the said case, by public proclamation your\nbody be burnt alive and reduced to ashes, for heresy against our\nholy Catholic faith. In case you seek pardon and repent and\nconfess your error and desire to die as a Christian, you shall be\nfirst strangled to death so that you may not feel the torments of\nfire. While the case was thus being dealt with by the Governor's\ncouncil, teacher Diogo spoke to the bachelor and sternly rebuked\nhim. As a result, the latter was made to repent and realize his\nerror, so that when the secular sentence was pronounced as stated\nabove, he heard it patiently, thus accusing himself of his sin in public.\nSoon he was sent to the prison, where he asked for confession and\nwas confessed by teacher Diogo. He was taken to the pillory,\naccompanied as an act of mercy by teacher Diogo who accom-\npanied him until he was strangled, and was burnt and was reduced\nto ashes.\nSoon after, on the following Sunday, the bishop preached at\nthe Cathedral Church. From the pulpit he read the bull of the\nHoly Inquisition, and gave information only of the penalty of\nexcommunication in order that all those who learnt of the errors of\nChristian men and women who in their lives or usages practise\nheresies against our Holy faith should disclose the same; the other\nprovisions of the Holy Inquisition would not be used for the\npresent until express orders of our sire the king were received.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}