--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: When BJP raised this issue during Pope's 1999 visit, it was considered communal agenda by some. This is an article by R. Gupta posted during Pope's last visit to India.
Excerpt from the article: The Vatican has apologised for the agony inflicted on Galileo Galilei. But the terrible agony inflicted on the Hindus of India during the Goa Inquisition remain buried in the carefully crafted history of the Church as a benign institution. It is time India demanded and secured an apology from the Vatican for the Goa Inquisition. In fact, we should go a step further and demand reparation from Portugal. > Mario opines: a) The Inquisition period, in Goa and elsewhere, was an aberration and a blot on the Catholic Church, the brainchild of religious fanatics whose beliefs were not Christ-like. It took decades to reclaim the church from these fanatics. b) Has the terrible agony inflicted during the Goa Inquisition really been "buried in the carefully crafted history of the Church as a benign institution."? Is secular India now expected to demand reparations on behalf of one of its communities from another, which is decades removed from the actual atrocities? c) On balance, the Catholic Church HAS been benign in India. The best example of this was Mother Teresa, but there are many other examples as well, of schools, hospitals, clinics etc. that have benefitted Indians regardless of creed. Isn't this a form of "reparations" by Catholics? d) Demanding additional reparations from the Portugal of today for atrocities committed hundreds of years ago, which would not go to the actual victims but to their descendants, who are NOT under the yoke of any such ongoing atrocities, is a meaningless and mischievous excercise in futility. e) And, if reparations are being demanded from Portugal for the Inquisition, can a demand by the Dalits for reparations from "upper caste" Hindus be far behind? What about reparations from the Muslim invaders of India? If every abused community since Genghis Khan demanded reparations, where would it end? f) History is filled with atrocities. In my opinion, we need to remember history as a learning experience, fix the harm caused to actual living victims of mass atrocities, and move on.
