Martyrs of Cuncolim
Encyclopedia
The Cuncolim Revolt was a massacre of Christian priests and civilians by Kshatriya
s in Cuncolim
, Goa
on Monday, 25 July 1583, as a protest against attempts by the colonial Portuguese administration to demolish Hindu temples in the locality and forcibly convert the local population to Christianity
.
Five Jesuit priests along with one European and 14 Indian Christians were killed in the incident. The Portuguese government retaliated by summarily executing most of the Gaonkar leaders without trial, and destroying the economic infrastructure of Cuncolim.
The incident was the first show of defiance against the Portuguese by the local population since the conquest of Goa in 1510.
in 1510, missionaries of the newly-founded Society of Jesus were sent from Portugal to Goa with the goal of fulfilling the papal bull
Romanus Pontifex
, which granted the patronage of the propagation of the Christian faith in Asia to the Portuguese. The Portuguese colonial government in Goa supported the mission with incentives for baptized Christians. They offered rice donations to the poor, good positions in the Portuguese colonies to the middle class and military support for local rulers.
However, force was later used, and in 1567 a campaign was launched in Bardez
in North Goa resulting in the destruction of 300 temples. Enacting laws, prohibition was laid from December 4, 1567 on Hindu rituals and which required all persons above 15 years of age to listen to Christian preaching, failing which they were punished. In 1583 Hindu temples at Assolna
and Cuncolim were destroyed through army action.
Cuncolim
was inhabited by a devout Hindu population who were mostly members of the warrior Kshatriya
caste. It was prosperous compared to neighbouring areas due to its fertile land, with abundant and fresh water from rivers descending from the hinterland of Goa. Surplus agricultural production had enabled this village to develop crafts of a very skilled order and it was known for its metal work. As Afonso de Albuquerque wrote in his letters back to Portugal, guns of good quality were manufactured in Cuncolim, which he found comparable to those made in Germany.
There were 12 vangodds (Konkani
: clans) of ganvkars (freeholders) in Cuncolim. Their names, in order of precedence, were Mhal, Shetkar, Naik, Mangro, Shet, Tombdo, Porob, Sidakalo, Lokakalo, Bandekar, Rounom and Benklo. The Gauncars, who held common ownership of the village and paid all taxes, were also the founders and caretakers of the main village temple.
Cuncolim depended on a permanent bazaar at the end of more than one caravan route, connecting it with the mainland through the Ghats of Ashthagrahar province.
In keeping with the traditional fairs connected with temple and religious festivities, the bazaar economy of Cuncolim depended upon its temple and religious celebrations. Due to this, there was an angry reaction of the dominant Hindu class to the destruction of its temples by the Portuguese government and to the attempts of the Jesuits who sought to establish Christianity in Cuncolim and its satellite villages of Assolna
, Veroda, Velim
and Ambelim in 1583. The demolition of local temples implied deprivation of religious and cultural traditions that sustained an established social structure and its underlying economic base.
In protest, the ganvkars of Cuncolim refused to pay rent to the Portuguese authorities. They also refused to give up their practice of the Hindu religion, and continued to build temples, despite a banning order. They re-built their destroyed temples and conducted their rituals and festivals openly in defiance of Portuguese ordinances. As such, the Portuguese missionaries found it impossible to convert them.
The Portuguese chronicler Diogo do Couto described Cuncolim as "The leader of rebellions" and its people as "The worst of all villages of Salcete". Jesuit priest Valignani described Cuncolim as 'rigid and obstinate' in its adherence to idolatory.
In 1583, 5 jesuit priests led by Fr. Rudolfo Aquaviva received orders from their superior to go to Salcette
to maintain law and order, destroy temples, construct churches and effect conversions. They chose Cuncolim to make their first survey of the situation, as they saw it as an ideal ground for constructing a church.
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.
The Kshatriya ganvkars of Cuncolim were then invited for talks at the Assolna fort situated on the banks of the River Sal
where the present-day Assolna church stands and in an act of treachery, sixteen of them were summarily executed without trial by the Portuguese authorities. One of them escaped execution by jumping into the Assolna River through a toilet hole and fleeing to neighbouring Karwar
in the present day state of Karnataka
.
Following the execution of their leaders, the villages of Cuncolim, Velim, Assolna, Ambelim and Veroda refused to pay taxes on the produce generated from their fields and orchards to the Portuguese government. As a result, their lands were confiscated and entrusted to the Condado of the Marquis of Fronteira. Forcible conversions perpetrated by the Portuguese led the villagers of Cuncolim to move their places of worship. One of the temples of the goddess Shri Shantadurga Cuncolikarian was moved to the neighboring village of Fatorpa
some seven kilometres away. Most of Cuncolim's population was converted to Christianity, in the years following the massacre. The Church of Nossa Senhora de Saude was constructed by the Portuguese at the site of the massacre.
In 2003, a memorial to the slain chieftains was constructed in Cuncolim, initiative of Prof. Vermissio Coutinho, head of the Cuncolim Chieftains Memorial Trust. Prior to its construction, however, the memorial met with strong opposition from the local Catholic parish, on the grounds of its proximity to another memorial built 102 years ago in memory of the five slain Jesuit priests. They instead argued that the memorial should be built in Assolna, where the chieftains were massacred.
Fr. Rodolfo Acquaviva
Rodolfo Acquaviva
was born on 2 October 1550, at Atri in the Kingdom of Naples
. He was the fifth child of the Duke of Atri, and nephew of Claudius Acquaviva, the fifth General of the Society of Jesus, while on his mother's side he was a cousin of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Admitted into the Society of Jesus on 2 April 1568, he landed in Goa on 13 September 1578. Shortly after his arrival he was selected for an important mission to the court of Mughal
emperor Akbar, who had sent an embassy to Goa with a request that two learned missionaries might be sent to Fatehpur Sikri
, the city near Agra
which Akbar had constructed as a capital. After spending three years at the Mughal court, he returned to Goa, much to the regret of the whole Court and especially of the emperor. On his return to Goa, he was appointed superior of the Salcete
mission, which post he held until his martyrdom. After hearing of Fr. Acquaviva's death, Emperor Akbar is believed to have grieved; "Alas, father, my advice was good that you should not go, but you would not follow it."
, and entered the Society on 8 September 1567. In September 1574, he arrived in Goa, where he so distinguished himself by his rare prudence and virtue that in 1578; he was sent to Europe on important business. Returning to India in 1581, he was made rector of Rachol Seminary
. He accompanied two punitive expeditions of the Portuguese to the village of Cuncolim, and was instrumental in destroying the pagodas there.
, a Swiss village at the foot of the Alps. After being ordained priest in Rome
, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1577, arrived in Goa in 1579, and was soon appointed to Salcete. He accompanied the expeditions to Cuncolim, and assisted in destroying the Hindu temples, destroyed an ant-hill which was deemed very sacred, and killed a cow which was also an object of Hindu worship. He used to say constantly that no fruit would be gathered from Cuncolim and the hamlets around it till they were bathed in blood shed for the Faith. His superiors declared that he had converted more pagans than all the other fathers put together.
in Portugal. He joined the Society in 1571, accompanied Father Pacheco to India in 1581, and was shortly afterwards ordained priest in Goa. It is said that whenever he said Mass, he prayed, at the Elevation, for the grace of martyrdom; and that on the day before his death, when he was saying Mass at the church of Orlim, a miracle prefigured the granting of this prayer.
in Portugal, about 1551, and went to India with his uncle, the first Archbishop of Goa, Dom Gaspar. There he joined the Society of Jesus on 1 November 1571. Being a skilled draughtsman and architect, he built several fine chapels in Goa.
The bodies themselves, when found, after two and a half days, allowed no signs of decomposition. They were solemnly buried in the church of Our Lady of the Snows
at Rachol, and remained there until 1597, when they were removed to the Saint Paul's College, Goa
, and in 1862 to the cathedral of Old Goa. Some of these relics have been sent to Europe at various times. All the bones of the entire right arm of Blessed Rudolph were taken to Rome in 1600, and his left arm was sent from Goa as a present to the Jesuit College at Naples
.
In accordance with the request of the Pacheco family, an arm and leg of Blessed Alphonsus were sent to Europe in 1609. The process of canonization began in 1600, but it was only in 1741 that Pope Benedict XIV
declared the martyrdom proved. On the 16 April, 1893, the five martyrs were beatified
at St. Peter's in Rome.
This beatification was celebrated in Goa in 1894, and the feast has ever since then been kept with great solemnity at Cuncolim, even by the descendants of those who participated in the revolt. The Calendar of the Archdiocese of Goa has fixed 26 July as their feast day.
Attribution
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
s in Cuncolim
Cuncolim
Cuncolim is a city and a municipal council in South Goa district in the state of Goa, India.-Etymology:The name Cuncolim is derived from the fact that the village was known as Kumkumahalli .-Geography:Cuncolim is located at...
, Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
on Monday, 25 July 1583, as a protest against attempts by the colonial Portuguese administration to demolish Hindu temples in the locality and forcibly convert the local population to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
.
Five Jesuit priests along with one European and 14 Indian Christians were killed in the incident. The Portuguese government retaliated by summarily executing most of the Gaonkar leaders without trial, and destroying the economic infrastructure of Cuncolim.
The incident was the first show of defiance against the Portuguese by the local population since the conquest of Goa in 1510.
Background
Following the conquest of Goa by Portuguese admiral Afonso de AlbuquerqueAfonso de Albuquerque
Afonso de Albuquerque[p][n] was a Portuguese fidalgo, or nobleman, an admiral whose military and administrative activities as second governor of Portuguese India conquered and established the Portuguese colonial empire in the Indian Ocean...
in 1510, missionaries of the newly-founded Society of Jesus were sent from Portugal to Goa with the goal of fulfilling the papal bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
Romanus Pontifex
Romanus Pontifex
Romanus Pontifex is a papal bull written January 8, 1455 by Pope Nicholas V to King Afonso V of Portugal. As a follow-up to the Dum Diversas, it confirmed to the Crown of Portugal dominion over all lands discovered or conquered during the Age of Discovery. Along with encouraging the seizure of the...
, which granted the patronage of the propagation of the Christian faith in Asia to the Portuguese. The Portuguese colonial government in Goa supported the mission with incentives for baptized Christians. They offered rice donations to the poor, good positions in the Portuguese colonies to the middle class and military support for local rulers.
However, force was later used, and in 1567 a campaign was launched in Bardez
Bardez
Bardez is the name of a region and taluka in North Goa. The name is credited to the Brahmin immigrants who migrated to the Konkan via Magadha in Gangetic India from Aryavarta, in the north-western part of the Indian sub-continent. Bardez or more properly Bara desh means "twelve countries"...
in North Goa resulting in the destruction of 300 temples. Enacting laws, prohibition was laid from December 4, 1567 on Hindu rituals and which required all persons above 15 years of age to listen to Christian preaching, failing which they were punished. In 1583 Hindu temples at Assolna
Assolna
Assolna is a town to the south of Chinchinim.The river Sal flows through this town.-Geography:Assolna is located at . It has an average elevation of ....
and Cuncolim were destroyed through army action.
Cuncolim
Cuncolim
Cuncolim is a city and a municipal council in South Goa district in the state of Goa, India.-Etymology:The name Cuncolim is derived from the fact that the village was known as Kumkumahalli .-Geography:Cuncolim is located at...
was inhabited by a devout Hindu population who were mostly members of the warrior Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
caste. It was prosperous compared to neighbouring areas due to its fertile land, with abundant and fresh water from rivers descending from the hinterland of Goa. Surplus agricultural production had enabled this village to develop crafts of a very skilled order and it was known for its metal work. As Afonso de Albuquerque wrote in his letters back to Portugal, guns of good quality were manufactured in Cuncolim, which he found comparable to those made in Germany.
There were 12 vangodds (Konkani
Konkani language
KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
: clans) of ganvkars (freeholders) in Cuncolim. Their names, in order of precedence, were Mhal, Shetkar, Naik, Mangro, Shet, Tombdo, Porob, Sidakalo, Lokakalo, Bandekar, Rounom and Benklo. The Gauncars, who held common ownership of the village and paid all taxes, were also the founders and caretakers of the main village temple.
Cuncolim depended on a permanent bazaar at the end of more than one caravan route, connecting it with the mainland through the Ghats of Ashthagrahar province.
In keeping with the traditional fairs connected with temple and religious festivities, the bazaar economy of Cuncolim depended upon its temple and religious celebrations. Due to this, there was an angry reaction of the dominant Hindu class to the destruction of its temples by the Portuguese government and to the attempts of the Jesuits who sought to establish Christianity in Cuncolim and its satellite villages of Assolna
Assolna
Assolna is a town to the south of Chinchinim.The river Sal flows through this town.-Geography:Assolna is located at . It has an average elevation of ....
, Veroda, Velim
Velim
Velim is a town south of Assolna. It has its own Gram Panchayat which sees to the requirementsof its citizens. The population is predominantly Catholic and there are also a substantial number of Hindus living here....
and Ambelim in 1583. The demolition of local temples implied deprivation of religious and cultural traditions that sustained an established social structure and its underlying economic base.
In protest, the ganvkars of Cuncolim refused to pay rent to the Portuguese authorities. They also refused to give up their practice of the Hindu religion, and continued to build temples, despite a banning order. They re-built their destroyed temples and conducted their rituals and festivals openly in defiance of Portuguese ordinances. As such, the Portuguese missionaries found it impossible to convert them.
The Portuguese chronicler Diogo do Couto described Cuncolim as "The leader of rebellions" and its people as "The worst of all villages of Salcete". Jesuit priest Valignani described Cuncolim as 'rigid and obstinate' in its adherence to idolatory.
In 1583, 5 jesuit priests led by Fr. Rudolfo Aquaviva received orders from their superior to go to Salcette
Salcette
Salcette , is a taluka of South Goa District in the Indian state of Goa. Its administrative and economic headquarters is Margao. It is largely coterminous with a region called Sashti , which comprised, by local tradition, sixty-six villages, hence the name. However, it also includes the taluka of...
to maintain law and order, destroy temples, construct churches and effect conversions. They chose Cuncolim to make their first survey of the situation, as they saw it as an ideal ground for constructing a church.
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
Rachol Seminary
Rachol Seminary, also known today as the Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol , is the diocesan major seminary of the Primatial Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.-Historical Outline:The edifice that presently houses the seminary, was constructed by the Jesuits with...
, 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
Margao
Margao and commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It is the administrative headquarters of South Goa district and of the Salcete taluka.- Etymology :...
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.
Portuguese retaliation and aftermath
Following the massacre, the captain-major in charge of the Portuguese Army garrison at the Assolna Fort was determined to avenge the deaths of the Jesuit priests. As retribution, the Portuguese army raided and destroyed orchards in the village and unleashed many atrocities on the local population.The Kshatriya ganvkars of Cuncolim were then invited for talks at the Assolna fort situated on the banks of the River Sal
Sal River (India)
Sal River is a river in South Goa, India. The river opens near Cavelossim. Villagers here have been fighting to save the river from dredging.It passes through Margao, Navelim,Dramapur, Chinchinim, Assolna and drains itself into the Arabian Sea at Betul, Goa....
where the present-day Assolna church stands and in an act of treachery, sixteen of them were summarily executed without trial by the Portuguese authorities. One of them escaped execution by jumping into the Assolna River through a toilet hole and fleeing to neighbouring Karwar
Karwar
Karwar is the administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, India. It is a seaside town situated on the banks of the Kali river which is on the west coast of the Indian peninsula. The town lies about 15 kilometres south of the Karnataka–Goa border and 519 km north-west...
in the present day state of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
.
Following the execution of their leaders, the villages of Cuncolim, Velim, Assolna, Ambelim and Veroda refused to pay taxes on the produce generated from their fields and orchards to the Portuguese government. As a result, their lands were confiscated and entrusted to the Condado of the Marquis of Fronteira. Forcible conversions perpetrated by the Portuguese led the villagers of Cuncolim to move their places of worship. One of the temples of the goddess Shri Shantadurga Cuncolikarian was moved to the neighboring village of Fatorpa
Fatorpa
-External links:* *...
some seven kilometres away. Most of Cuncolim's population was converted to Christianity, in the years following the massacre. The Church of Nossa Senhora de Saude was constructed by the Portuguese at the site of the massacre.
In 2003, a memorial to the slain chieftains was constructed in Cuncolim, initiative of Prof. Vermissio Coutinho, head of the Cuncolim Chieftains Memorial Trust. Prior to its construction, however, the memorial met with strong opposition from the local Catholic parish, on the grounds of its proximity to another memorial built 102 years ago in memory of the five slain Jesuit priests. They instead argued that the memorial should be built in Assolna, where the chieftains were massacred.
Fr. Rodolfo AcquavivaRodolfo AcquavivaRodolfo Acquaviva Italian Jesuit missionary to India, at the court of Akbar the Great, 1580–1583; Martyred, 1583; Blessed, 1893....
Rodolfo AcquavivaRodolfo Acquaviva
Rodolfo Acquaviva Italian Jesuit missionary to India, at the court of Akbar the Great, 1580–1583; Martyred, 1583; Blessed, 1893....
was born on 2 October 1550, at Atri in the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
. He was the fifth child of the Duke of Atri, and nephew of Claudius Acquaviva, the fifth General of the Society of Jesus, while on his mother's side he was a cousin of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Admitted into the Society of Jesus on 2 April 1568, he landed in Goa on 13 September 1578. Shortly after his arrival he was selected for an important mission to the court of Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
emperor Akbar, who had sent an embassy to Goa with a request that two learned missionaries might be sent to Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri is a city and a municipal board in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Built near the much older Sikri, the historical city of Fatehabad, as it was first named, was constructed by Mughal emperor Akbar beginning in 1570...
, the city near Agra
Agra
Agra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...
which Akbar had constructed as a capital. After spending three years at the Mughal court, he returned to Goa, much to the regret of the whole Court and especially of the emperor. On his return to Goa, he was appointed superior of the Salcete
Salcette
Salcette , is a taluka of South Goa District in the Indian state of Goa. Its administrative and economic headquarters is Margao. It is largely coterminous with a region called Sashti , which comprised, by local tradition, sixty-six villages, hence the name. However, it also includes the taluka of...
mission, which post he held until his martyrdom. After hearing of Fr. Acquaviva's death, Emperor Akbar is believed to have grieved; "Alas, father, my advice was good that you should not go, but you would not follow it."
Fr. Alphonsus Pacheco
Alphonsus Pacheco was born about 1551, of a noble family of New CastileNew Castile
New Castile is a historic region of Spain. It roughly corresponds to the southern part of the Castile, taken during the Reconquista of the peninsula by Christian kings from Muslim rulers. Some notable achievements in this reconquest were the capture of Toledo in 1085, ending the Taifa's Kingdom of...
, and entered the Society on 8 September 1567. In September 1574, he arrived in Goa, where he so distinguished himself by his rare prudence and virtue that in 1578; he was sent to Europe on important business. Returning to India in 1581, he was made rector of Rachol Seminary
Rachol Seminary
Rachol Seminary, also known today as the Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol , is the diocesan major seminary of the Primatial Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.-Historical Outline:The edifice that presently houses the seminary, was constructed by the Jesuits with...
. He accompanied two punitive expeditions of the Portuguese to the village of Cuncolim, and was instrumental in destroying the pagodas there.
Fr. Peter Berno
Peter Berno (or Berna) was born of humble parents in 1550 at AsconaAscona
Ascona is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore.The town is a popular tourist destination, and holds a yearly jazz festival, the Ascona Jazz Festival....
, a Swiss village at the foot of the Alps. After being ordained priest in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1577, arrived in Goa in 1579, and was soon appointed to Salcete. He accompanied the expeditions to Cuncolim, and assisted in destroying the Hindu temples, destroyed an ant-hill which was deemed very sacred, and killed a cow which was also an object of Hindu worship. He used to say constantly that no fruit would be gathered from Cuncolim and the hamlets around it till they were bathed in blood shed for the Faith. His superiors declared that he had converted more pagans than all the other fathers put together.
Fr. Anthony Francis
Anthony Francis, born in 1553, was a poor student of CoimbraCoimbra
Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...
in Portugal. He joined the Society in 1571, accompanied Father Pacheco to India in 1581, and was shortly afterwards ordained priest in Goa. It is said that whenever he said Mass, he prayed, at the Elevation, for the grace of martyrdom; and that on the day before his death, when he was saying Mass at the church of Orlim, a miracle prefigured the granting of this prayer.
Br. Francis Aranha
Brother Francis Aranha was born of a wealthy and noble family of BragaBraga
Braga , a city in the Braga Municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga District, the oldest archdiocese and the third major city of the country. Braga is the oldest Portuguese city and one of the oldest Christian cities in the World...
in Portugal, about 1551, and went to India with his uncle, the first Archbishop of Goa, Dom Gaspar. There he joined the Society of Jesus on 1 November 1571. Being a skilled draughtsman and architect, he built several fine chapels in Goa.
Canonization of the Priests
Following the massacre the bodies of the five jesuits were thrown into a well. The well still stands today inside the chapel and is opened for people to view once a year during the feast of St Xavier, celebrated in the first week of December.The bodies themselves, when found, after two and a half days, allowed no signs of decomposition. They were solemnly buried in the church of Our Lady of the Snows
Our Lady of Snows Basilica
Our Lady of Snows Shrine Basilica is located at Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the Catholic pilgrimage centres in India dedicated to the Virgin Mary.-History:...
at Rachol, and remained there until 1597, when they were removed to the Saint Paul's College, Goa
Saint Paul's College, Goa
St. Paul's College was a Jesuit college founded circa 1542 at Old Goa. It was once the main Jesuit institution in India. It housed the first printing press in India, having published the first books in 1556...
, and in 1862 to the cathedral of Old Goa. Some of these relics have been sent to Europe at various times. All the bones of the entire right arm of Blessed Rudolph were taken to Rome in 1600, and his left arm was sent from Goa as a present to the Jesuit College at Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
.
In accordance with the request of the Pacheco family, an arm and leg of Blessed Alphonsus were sent to Europe in 1609. The process of canonization began in 1600, but it was only in 1741 that Pope Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV , born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was Pope from 17 August 1740 to 3 May 1758.-Life:...
declared the martyrdom proved. On the 16 April, 1893, the five martyrs were beatified
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
at St. Peter's in Rome.
This beatification was celebrated in Goa in 1894, and the feast has ever since then been kept with great solemnity at Cuncolim, even by the descendants of those who participated in the revolt. The Calendar of the Archdiocese of Goa has fixed 26 July as their feast day.
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Attribution