El santo oficio
overview
Gaspar de Carvajal, a Dominican, has not seen his family since the age of 10 when he was sent away to pursue the religious life. He attends the funeral of his father, where he notices that the body was washed, then buried in a shroud and without a coffin. Gaspar tells his confessor that he suspects his family, Jews converted to Catholicism, are still following the old ways. Father Lorenzo says this matter must be taken before the Inquisition. Alonso de Peralta, chief Inquisitor of New Spain, orders the Carvajal family arrested on the testimony of their son. Hernando, a Franciscan friar, is sent as a spy to the cell of Luis, Gaspar's brother. Luis's faith converts Hernando to Judaism. Under torture, Luis's mother Francisca confesses. Each family member renounces the Jewish heresy and is allowed to leave prison. But they are warned. If they revert to Judaism a second time, they will be burnt at the stake... Written by David Carless