Petition calls for the creation of a day in memory of the victims of the inquisition

Should Portugal have a day to remember the victims of the Inquisition? A petition was sent to the Assembly of the Republic to create a memorial for these people, which would be built in front of the D. Maria II National Theater in Lisbon.

And why this place? It is there that the court of the Inquisition of Lisbon worked for years, condemning to death thousands of Jews. The historian Jorge Martins, author of this petition, explained on the Sabbath that during the three centuries in which the Inquisition was in force in Portugal, more than 45,000 cases had been filed in various courts of the country. Most had resulted in acts of faith. to be burned in the public square.

The petition was tabled in Parliament on March 17, 2018. Francisco Louçã, Maria de Belém, Francisco José Viegas and Richard Zimler are among the personalities who signed this petition, which calls for the establishment of the Victims Remembrance Day. from the inquisition. May 23rd. This is not a random date: it is the day when, in 1536, the Inquisition established in Portugal, through the papal bull Cum ad nil magis.

"The majority of the Portuguese population has no idea of ​​the pernicious dimension of the" action of the Holy Office, created to "apprehend and punish the baptized Jews against their will in 1497, although" he has also persecuted other victims, such as Muslims, Protestants, atheists, homosexuals, witches and bamamos ", explains the historian, who deems it important to" assume "the negative role of the victim. Inquisition in Portugal and in the former colonies, especially Brazil, and to honor and preserve the memory of hundreds of thousands of Portuguese who have suffered, directly or indirectly, their persecution ".