Cuncolim Revolt - The Massacre

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.

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