The argument of "clean castes and lineage" for Goan priests has been mentioned by the freedom fighter Verissimo Coutinho (later US-based, and at the Loyola University, Chicago, when he wrote this in 1975). Coutinho cites Tristão de Bragança Cunha's work as below, to argue that the "Portuguese Church's acceptance of caste inequality was evident":
QUOTE One of the major reasons for the maintenance of the caste system in Goa, was that it served the political aims of the Portuguese by keeping the Catholics divided. The Portu- guese Church's acceptance of the caste inequality was evident from the order of the Third Council of Goa which ordered that the Catholic priests be of the honored and clean castes and lineage so that the other Christians would respect them.59 UNQUOTE See https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/48609751.pdf Given that much of Goa's history has been written in highly polarised times, with strong ideological lenses in place (on both sides), maybe we need a critical perspective on how we understand the same today. Also, The Third Provincial Council of Goa took place in 1585. Your views? FN On Saturday, 1 February 2025 at 01:09:43 UTC+5:30 Carvalho wrote: I don't claim to have done a thesis on Goan priests, but since this is a research forum, I'm sharing what I've come to know to be the case in the particular person I am persuing. In 1853, having studied at the Sao Thome Seminary in Madras, he returned to Goa to answer his Latin exam at Rachol. His family were interrogated to confirm that he was of "clean blood" without any Jewish, Muslim, Mulatto intermingling or any race disapproved of by law. Separately, it was also confined that he was of "pure blood" without a doubt about his caste. Take care, Selma -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/e75ec1e3-be62-46c6-b61d-131cf70c4ba7n%40googlegroups.com.
