page_title: History of Goa
section_title: Christianity in Goa
hierarchical_section_title: History of Goa / Era of Portuguese Colonial Rule (1510–1961) / Christianity in Goa
caption_attribution_description: The procession of the Spanish Inquisition in Goa entering the church with standards and banners. Engraving. Iconographic Collections
context_page_description: The history of Goa dates back to prehistoric times, though the present-day state of Goa was only established as recently as 1987. In spite of being India's smallest state by area, Goa's history is both long and diverse. It shares a lot of similarities with Indian history, especially with regard to colonial influences and a multi-cultural aesthetic.
  The Usgalimal rock engravings, belonging to the upper paleolithic or mesolithic periods, exhibit some of the earliest traces of human settlement in India. The Mauryan and Satavahana Empires ruled modern-day Goa during the Iron Age.
  During the medieval period, Goa was ruled by the Kadamba kingdom, Vijayanagara Empire, Bahmani Sultanate and Bijapur Sultanate.
  The Portuguese invaded Goa in 1510, defeating the Bijapur Sultanate. The Goa Inquisition, established in 1560, persecuted Hindus, Muslims, and other religious minorities. The Portuguese rule lasted for about 450 years, and heavily influenced Goan culture, cuisine, and architecture.
  In 1961, the Indian Army invaded and annexed Goa after a 36 hour battle. The region was incorporated as a union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu. In 1987, Goa was granted statehood.
context_section_description: The Crown in Lisbon undertook to finance missionary activity; missionaries and priests converted large numbers of people in all spheres of society, especially in Goa. St Francis Xavier in Goa, pioneered the establishment of a seminary, called Saint Paul's College. It was the first Jesuit headquarters in Asia. St Francis founded the College to train Jesuit missionaries. He went to the Far East, traveling towards China. Missionaries of the Jesuit Order spread out through India, going as far north as the court of the great Moghul Emperor Jallaluddin Akbar. Having heard about the Jesuits, he invited them to come and teach him and his children about Christianity.
  From Goa, the Jesuit order was able to set up base almost anywhere in Asia for evangelistic missions, including the founding of Roman Catholic colleges, universities and faculties of education. Jesuits are known for their work in education, intellectual research, and cultural pursuits, and for their missionary efforts. Jesuits also give retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, and promote social justice and ecumenical dialogue.; Saint Paul's College Goa was a base for their evangelisation of Macau, and then for their important missionary campaigns into China and Japan. Macau eventually superseded St Paul's College, Goa. They built St Paul College in 1594 (now the University of Macau), known in Latin as the college of Mater Dei. Because of state conflicts with the Jesuits, In 1762 the Marquês de Pombal expelled the order from Macau. The Macau university combined evangelisation with education.
  In the year 1600 António de Andrade made the long voyage from Lisbon to Goa, where he pursued his higher studies at St. Paul's College and was ordained a Jesuit priest. He eventually became rector of the same college. He made a landmark missionary expedition from Goa, across the length of India and into Tibet. He overcame incredible hardships in the journey as the first European to cross the Himalaya mountains into Tibet. There he founded churches and a mission in 1625.  The corpse of the co-founder of the Society of Jesus, Francis Xavier, whose example many Goan missionaries tried to emulate by engaging in evangelizing work in Asia, was shipped to Goa on 11 December 1553. Goa has also produced its own saints: the martyrs of Cuncolim; St. Joseph Vaz, whose missionary exploits in Sri Lanka are remembered with gratitude in that country; and the Venerable Angelo de Souza.
  The 16th-century monument, the Cathedral or Sé, was constructed during Portugal's Golden Age, and is the largest church in Asia, as well as larger than any church in Portugal. The church is 250 ft in length and 181 ft in breadth. The frontispiece stands 115 ft high. The Cathedral is dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria and is also known as St. Catherine's Cathedral. It was on her feast day in 1510 that Afonso de Albuquerque defeated the Muslim army and took possession of the city of Goa.
  The Goa Inquisition was the office of the Inquisition acting within the Indian state of Goa and the rest of the Portuguese empire in Asia. It was established in 1560, briefly suppressed from 1774–1778, and finally abolished in 1812. The Goan Inquisition is considered a blot on the history of Roman Catholic Christianity in India by both Christians and non-Christians alike. Based on the records that survive, H. P. Salomon and I. S. D. Sassoon state that between the Inquisition's beginning in 1561 and its temporary abolition in 1774, some 16,202 persons were brought to trial. Of this number, only 57 were sentenced to death and executed; another 64 were burned in effigy. Most were subjected to lesser punishments or penances.
  The Inquisition was established to punish relapsed New Christians, Jews and Muslims who had converted to Catholicism, as well as their descendants, but were suspected of practicing their ancestral religion in secret. Numerous Portuguese Jews (as converted Catholics) had come to Goa and worked as traders. Due to persecution during the Inquisition, most left and migrated to Fort St. George (later Madras/Chen
caption: The Auto-da-fé procession of the Inquisition at Goa. The Goa Inquisition, which was established in 1560 and abolished in 1820, persecuted Hindus, Muslims, and other religious minorities
exif: {}