{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 37,
  "chapterName": "1597. Letter of Archbishop Menezes to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem",
  "pageFrom": 38,
  "pageTo": 38,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 38,
      "ocrText": "38\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nthat you will accept no excuses that may be offered; but that the\nonly way of escaping your wrath and obtaining your favour, is to\nmake as many Christians as possible in the countries over which\nthey rule.\nI could give many instances to prove the necessity of this, but\nI will not weary your Majesty by what would only be a recital of my\npast and present anxieties undergone without any hope of reward.\nI will only assert this much if every Viceroy and Governor be\nfully persuaded that you have bound yourself by oath to do this,\nand that you will perform all that you have threatened, the whole\nisland of Ceylon, many kings of the Malabar Coast, and the whole\npromontory of Comorin will embrace the religion of Christ in a\nsingle year. But so long as the Viceroys and Governors are not\nurged by the fear of disgrace and fine to make many Christians,\nyour Majesty must not hope that the preaching of the Gospel will\nmeet with great success in India; or that many will be brought to\nbaptism, or make any progress in religion. The only reason why\nevery man in India does not acknowledge the divinity of Christ,\nand profess His holy doctrine, is the fact that the Viceroy or the\nGovernor who neglects to make this his care receives no punishment\nfrom your Majesty.\nBut as I can scarcely hope that this will ever be done, I almost\nregret having written it for fear lest these warnings may add to\nyour condemnation at the last day. I do not know whether the\nexcuse will then be admitted which you allege, namely, that you\nwere not bound to give credence to my letters. But I can from the\nbottom of my heart assure your Majesty, that I should never have\nwritten this about the Viceroy and Governors of this country, if I\ncould in any way have reconciled it to my conscience to keep\nsilence.\n37. LETTER OF ARCHBISHOP MENEZES TO THE\nLATIN PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM (1597 A.D.)\nIn this letter to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem resident in Rome,\ndated December 19, 1597, the Archbishop of Goa, Aleixo de Menezes\nindicates his intention to change the language and doctrine of the\nMalabar Church. Cited in A.A. King, The Rites of Eastern Christen-\ndom, pp. 449-450.\nThe priests with many of the people held a meeting and took an\noath that in case his holiness appointed a Syrian bishop, they\nwould obey him, but if he sends a Latin bishop, they will consider\nwhat course they will adopt. I propose to purify all the Churches\nfrom the heresy and errors which they hold, giving them the pure",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}