So who persecuted who? On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 11:21 AM, Cecil Pinto <cecilpi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Five Jesuit priests and four young boys, all unarmed, were slaughtered on > 15th July 1583 in Cuncolim. > Will someone explain to me why the people who massacred them are being > celebrated? > > Cheers! > > Cecil > > ============= > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuncolim_Revolt#The_Massacre > > > The five Jesuits met in Orlim Church on 15 July 1583, and thence proceeded > to Cuncolim, accompanied by one European—Goncalo Rodrigues—and 14 native > converts, with the objective of erecting a cross and selecting ground for > building a church. Meanwhile, several villagers in Cuncolim, after holding > a council, advanced in large numbers, armed with swords, lances, and other > weapons, towards the spot where the Christians were. > > According to the account given by the Catholic Encyclopaedia, published by > the Vatican, Gonçalo Rodrigues attempted to confront the advancing crowd > with a gun, but was stopped by Fr. Pacheco who stopped him and stated: "We > are not here to fight." Then, he addressed the crowd in Konkani, their > native language, and stated "Do not be afraid". Following this, the > villagers attacked the party. Father Rudolph received five cuts from a > scimitar and a spear and was killed on the spot. According to the Vatican, > he died praying God to forgive the assailants, and pronouncing the Holy > Name. > > Next, the crowd turned on Fr. Berno who was horribly mutilated, and Fr. > Pacheco who, wounded with a spear, fell on his knees extending his arms in > the form of a cross. Fr. Anthony Francis was shot with arrows, and his head > was split open with a sword. > > Br. Aranha, wounded at the outset by a scimitar and a lance, fell down a > deep declivity into the thick crop of a rice-field, where he lay until he > was discovered. He was then carried to a Hindu idol, to which he was bidden > to bow his head. Upon his refusal to do this, he was tied to a tree and was > shot to death with arrows. The spot where this tree stood is marked with an > octagonal monument surmounted by a cross, which was repaired by the > Patriarch of Goa in 1885. > > Along with the five priests, Gonçalo Rodrigues, a Portuguese, and fourteen > native Christians were also killed. Of the latter, one was Dominic, a boy > of Cuncolim, who was a student at Rachol Seminary, and had accompanied the > priests on their expeditions to Cuncolim and pointed out to them the Hindu > temples. He was killed by his own Hindu uncle for assisting the priests. > > Alphonsus, an altar-boy of Fr. Pacheco had followed him closely, carrying > his breviary. The Hindus cut off his hands on his refusal to part with the > breviary and cut through his knee-joints to prevent his escape. He survived > in this condition until the next day when he was found and killed. He was > later buried in the church of the Holy Ghost at Margao in South Goa. > According to the Vatican, several of the victims, including Francis > Rodrigues and Paul da Costa had earlier affirmed their desire to be > martyred for the Church. However, the native Goans killed with the Jesuits > were excluded from the list of the martyrs of the faith when the church > beatified the missionaries. This was due to the then prevailing attitude > among the missionaries that the local Catholics were by nature incapable of > performing spiritual feats. > > =========== >