This was an opportunity for those who wished to receive penance and be reconciled to the Church. Conversos during the Spanish Inquisition were forced to stay faithful and could not relapse. Relapse would result when a “judaizing” heretic would continue his/her practice even with the knowledge of the Church’s rules. In a trial of the Spanish Inquisition, the victim could try to name another person of the crime to avoid his/her sentence, place a blame. A confessor had to agree to spy on his friends and family, and if he/she did not produce evidence, he/she would be placed under suspicion as a heretic and could receive the death penalty.
