I have just read this on the Oporto Jewish Website, its reffering to claims for Citizenship by Brazilian citizens!!!! I honestly dont know what to think...Be patient and read it.The requests from Brazilian citizens claiming to be descendants of people condemned by the Inquisition for heresies concerning Judaism cannot be automatically admitted. Usually, they are not Jews, nor have at least one Sephardic Jewish grandparent of Portuguese origin, which prevents us from accepting a proven emotional connection preserved throughout the centuries by family traditions. On the other hand, their ancestors for the most part did not leave Portugal fleeing religious persecution, inasmuch as they left Portuguese territory in the Iberian Peninsula for Brazil, which was also Portuguese territory at the time, where the Inquisition was also active in the form of commissariats. Additionally, many of those condemned by the Inquisition for heresies concerning Judaism were not in fact Jews, but devout Christians. The Portuguese Inquisition was a “factory of Jews”, not of true Jews (ie, sons of Jewish mothers and practising Jewish rituals), but imaginary Jews. Many devout Christians who, in answering the inquisitorial interrogation, claimed not to be Jews and not to have sins to confess, were condemned to death for being unrepentant. To save their lives, many other Christians who had the misfortune of being arrested, decided to make false confessions that they were Jews professing all sorts of Jewish practices. As a result, they and their relatives, both close and distant, were then regarded as Jews, although they were not. In this confluence, the Portuguese Inquisition was a "factory of Jews" and for this reason, at that time, it was said sarcastically that a mint makes coins and the Inquisition makes Jews. (António José Saraiva, “Inquisição e Cristãos-Novos”, 1969)