ABSTRACT
While Father Antonio Monserrate and I were still captive, {[f. 397v]} the fathers in India and Viceroy Mathias de Albuquerque learnt that Father Antonio Fernandez had died in Ethiopia and that now only Father Francisco Lopez remained, and he was so old and weary that he was unable to travel from one place to another as was necessary to attend to the Portuguese and Catholics who lived in very remote areas. They therefore discussed sending other priests to take over from that old saint before <[f. 352/341]> these Christians were left entirely unsupported and without Catholic teaching. To do this, the father provincial of India appointed Father Abraham de Georgis, a Maronite by birth, who had been sent from Rome to India, and Father Diogo Gonçalves, a Portuguese, a man of great example and virtue. At this time Father Abraham was busy preaching very successfully to the Christians of Saint Thomas, who live in the mountains, because he knew the Suriyani2 and Arabic languages very well, and because of this and his great virtue and saintliness he seemed to be highly suited to this mission. Once they had been chosen, both fathers remained under cover for a year, so that the Moors who live in Goa could not have any knowledge at all of their departure and could not give warning of it to the Moors on the coast of Ethiopia, with whom they have dealings and communication. When the time came, the viceroy gave everything necessary for the fathers’ journey, but both he and the fathers were concerned about two fathers going and, on further consideration, it seemed it would be more convenient for the time being for Father Abraham to go with just an Ethiopian servant, who had been raised in our house. And so it was agreed, because in that way the father would be better disguised.
