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    Papal Persecution

    Mr. Massie further says of these Christians:FAFA 155.1

    “Separated from the Western world for a thousand years, they were naturally ignorant of many novelties introduced by the councils and decrees of the Lateran; and their conformity with the faith and practice of the first ages laid them open to the unpardonable guilt of heresy and schism, as estimated by the church of Rome. ‘We are Christians, and not idolaters,’ was their expressive reply when required to do homage to the image of the Virgin Mary.... LaCroze states them at fifteen hundred churches and as many towns and villages. They refused to recognise the pope, and declared they had never heard of him; they asserted the purity and primitive truth of their faith since they came, and their bishops had for thirteen hundred years been sent, from the place where the followers of Jesus were first called Christians.” — Id., Vol. II, pp. 116, 117.

    When the Portuguese (Roman Catholics) came to Malabar, India, in 1503, “they were agreeably surprised to find upwards of a hundred Christian churches on the coast of Malabar. But when they became acquainted with the purity and simplicity of their worship, they were offended. ‘These churches,’ said the Portuguese, ‘belong to the Pope.’ ‘Who is the Pope?’ said the natives, ‘we never heard of him.’ The European priests were yet more alarmed, when they found that these Hindoo Christians maintained the order and discipline of a regular church under Episcopal jurisdiction: and that, for 1300 years past, they had enjoyed a succession of Bishops appointed by the Patriarch of Antioch. ‘We,’ said they, ‘are of the true faith, whatever you from the West may be; for we came from the place where the followers of Christ were first called Christians.” — “Christian Researches in Asia,” Claudius Buchanan, D. D., p. 60. Philadelphia: 1813.FAFA 155.2

    “These Christians met the Portuguese as natural friends and allies, and rejoiced at their coming. But the Portuguese were much disappointed at finding the St. Thomas Christians firmly fixed in the tenets of a primitive church; and soon adopted plans for drawing away from their pure faith this innocent, ingenuous, and respectable people.” — “Indian Church History,” Thomas Yeates, p. 163. London: 1818.FAFA 156.1

    When the Jesuit, Francis Xavier, and his colaborers, were sent to India, they displayed the true spirit of Romanism. “The Inquisition was set up at Goa, in the Indies, at the instance of Francis Xaverius, who signified by letter to Pope [King] John, November 10, 1545, p. 3, ‘that the Jewish wickedness spread every day more and more in the parts of the East Indies, subject to the kingdom of Portugal, and therefore he earnestly besought the said king, that to cure so great an evil, he would take care to send the office of the Inquisition into those countries. [Accordingly the Inquisition was erected there.] The first Inquisitor was Alexius Diaz Falcano, sent by Cardinal Henry, March 15, A. D. 1560.... The language of F. Xavier, used on this occasion, is truly suspicious, and that under the mask of correcting ‘the Jewish wickedness,’ is rather to be construed an avowed design against the liberties, the independence, and the firmness of the native Christians of Malabar, who refused to acknowledge the Pope’s supremacy, and with a true Protestant zeal bravely resisted the Catholic tyranny.” — Id., pp. 139, 140.FAFA 156.2

    “The Jewish wickedness” of which Xavier complained was evidently the Sabbath-keeping among those native Christians, as we shall see in our next quotation. When one of these Sabbath-keeping Christians was taken by the Inquisition, he was accused “of having Judaized; which means, having conformed to the ceremonies of the Mosaic law; such as not eating pork, hare, fish without scales, etc., of having attended the solemnization of the Sabbath.” — “Account of the Inquisition at Goa,” Dellon, p. 56. London: 1815.FAFA 156.3

    “The Inquisitors, by degrees, begin to urge him in this way ‘If thou hast observed the law of Moses, and assembled on the Sabbath day as thou sayest, and thy accusers have seen thee there, as appears to have been the case; to convince us of the sincerity of thy repentance, tell us who are thine accusers, and those who have been with thee at these assemblies.”’FAFA 157.1

    Dellon then suggests that in the mind of the Inquisitors “the witnesses of the Sabbath are considered as accomplices.” — Id., p. 58.FAFA 157.2

    Some have thought that these Sabbath-keepers were relapsed Jews, but Dellon declares:FAFA 157.3

    “Of an hundred persons condemned to be burnt as Jews, there are scarcely four who profess that faith at their death; the rest exclaiming and protesting to their last gasp that they are Christians, and have been so during their whole lives.” — Id., p. 64.FAFA 157.4

    “The prisoner, who was entirely innocent, would be given over to the civil arm to be burned, unless he confessed the very crimes of which he was accused, and signed his confession, and also named six or seven of his accusers. But, not being told who they were, he might have to name many before striking the right ones, and, as his accusers were supposed to have been eyewitnesses to his Sabbath-keeping, they might be Sabbath-keepers, who, like himself, were in the clutches of the Inquisition. His only hope, therefore, was to name some of his brethren, who would then be taken by the inquisitors, and forced to repeat the same experience to free themselves. Thus the prison would be filled with people who were tortured for guilt of which they were innocent, or to remain in solitary confinement and terrible suspense and agony of mind until the Auto da Fe, or public burning, which took place every two or three years. ”- Id., pp. 53-60, 67. And whether they were released or executed, their property was confiscated to the Inquisition. Dr. C. Buchanan says:FAFA 157.5

    “When the power of the Portuguese became sufficient for their purpose, they invaded these tranquil Churches, seized some of the Clergy, and devoted them to the death of heretics.... They seized the Syrian Bishop Mar Joseph, and sent him prisoner to Lisbon: and then convened a Synod at one of the Syrian Churches called Diamper, near Cochin, at which the Romish Archbishop Menezes presided. At this compulsory Synod 150 of the Syrian Clergy appeared. They were accused of the following practices and opinions: ‘That they had married wives; that they owned but two Sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; that they neither invoked Saints, nor worshipped Images, nor believed in Purgatory; and that they had no other orders of names of dignity in the church, than Bishop, Priest, and Deacon.’ These tenets they were called on to abjure, or to suffer suspension from all Church benefices. It was also decreed that all Syrian books on ecclesiastical subjects that could be found, should be burned; ‘in order,’ said the Inquisitors, ‘that no pretended apostolical monuments may remain.”’ - “Christian Researches in Asia,” p. 60.FAFA 157.6

    The papacy had adopted the policy that all remains of the pure, apostolic church, whether persons or books, should be carefully eradicated, so that no trace of them might betray the sad fact that the Roman church had fallen away from the apostolic purity. And she has also tried to destroy all accounts of her persecution during the Dark Ages, so that her tracks would be covered up.FAFA 158.1

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