Abstract
Shortly after the 1570-1571 sieges to the State of Índia, the archbishop of Goa, Gaspar de Leão, published his last treatise, entitled Desengano de perdidos (1573), in which he prophesied the end of Islam and censured India’s temptations. This paper proposes an analysis of the archbishop´s publication as an attentive reading of the political and confessional context of the Indian, a fundamental piece for reflection on his pastoral work and on the kind of Christianity he intended to build. First, the text will focus on his expectations of a global Christianity that highlighted islamic power as the main obstacle to the full Christianization of Asia. In a second step, the analysis will be directed to the vices that, in the publication, appear as triggered or reinforced by the constitution of the Portuguese empire in Asia.
Keywords:
Portuguese Empire; prophecy; evangelization