Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta;
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: ''Franciscus Xaverius'';
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa'';
French: ''François Xavier'';
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
: ''Francisco Javier'';
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
and
saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
who was a co-founder of the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
.
Born in
Javier Javier may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Javier, in video game ''Advance Wars: Dual Strike''
* Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise.
* Javier (album), ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier ...
(Xavier in
Old Spanish
Old Spanish, also known as Old Castilian ( es, castellano antiguo; osp, romance castellano ), or Medieval Spanish ( es, español medieval), was originally a dialect of Vulgar Latin spoken in the former provinces of the Roman Empire that provided ...
and in
Navarro-Aragonese
Navarro-Aragonese is a Romance language once spoken in a large part of the Ebro River basin, south of the middle Pyrenees, although it is only currently spoken in a small portion of its original territory. The areas where it was spoken might have ...
, or Xabier, a
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
word meaning "new house"), in the Kingdom of Navarre (in present-day
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
), he was a companion of
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...
and one of the first seven
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
who took vows of poverty and chastity at
Montmartre
Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly the
Portuguese Empire in the East
The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...
, and was influential in
evangelisation
In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are in ...
work, most notably in
early modern India
According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...
. He was extensively involved in the missionary activity in
Portuguese India
The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...
. In 1546, Francis Xavier proposed the establishment of the
Goan Inquisition in a letter addressed to the Portuguese King,
John III.
While some sources claim that he actually asked for a special minister whose sole office would be to further
Christianity in Goa, others disagree with this assertion. He was also the first
Christian missionary
A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...
to venture into
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
, the
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...
, and other areas. In those areas, struggling to learn the local languages and in the face of opposition, he had less success than what he had enjoyed in India. Xavier was about to extend his mission to
Ming China
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...
, when he died on
Shangchuan Island
Shangchuan Island (, also known as "Schangschwan", "Sancian", "Sanchão", "Chang-Chuang", "St. John's Island" or "St John Island") is the main island of Chuanshan Archipelago on the southern coast of Guangdong, China. Its name originated from São ...
.
He was beatified by
Pope Paul V
Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...
on 25 October 1619 and
canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
by
Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV ( la, Gregorius XV; it, Gregorio XV; 9 January 15548 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 to his death in July 1623.
Biography
Early life
Al ...
on 12 March 1622. In 1624, he was made co-patron of Navarre. Known as the "Apostle of the
Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in East (disambiguation)#Geography, the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and ...
", "Apostle of
the Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
", "Apostle of China" and "Apostle of Japan", he is considered to be one of the greatest missionaries since
Paul the Apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
. In 1927,
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...
published the decree "Apostolicorum in Missionibus" naming Francis Xavier, along with
Thérèse of Lisieux
Thérèse of Lisieux (french: Thérèse de Lisieux ), born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin (2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), also known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (), was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite ...
, co-patron of all foreign missions. He is now co-patron saint of Navarre, with
Fermin
Fermin (also Firmin, from Latin ''Firminus''; Spanish ''Fermín'') was a legendary holy man and martyr, traditionally venerated as the co-patron saint of Navarre, Spain. His death may be associated with either the Decian persecution (250) or Dioc ...
. The Day of Navarre in
Navarre
Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
, Spain, marks the anniversary of Francis Xavier's death, on 3 December 1552.
Early life
![Castillo javier](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Castillo_javier.jpg)
Francis Xavier was born in the
Castle of Xavier
The Castle of Xavier ( eu, Xabierko gaztelua; es, Castillo de Javier) is located on a hill in the town of Xavier (Navarre, Spain), 52 km east of Pamplona and 7 km east of Sangüesa. Built in the 10th century, this castle was the birt ...
, in the
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France.
The medieval state took ...
, on 7 April 1506 into an influential noble family. He was the youngest son of Don Juan de Jasso y Atondo, Lord of Idocín, president of the Royal Council of the
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France.
The medieval state took ...
, and seneschal of the
Castle of Xavier
The Castle of Xavier ( eu, Xabierko gaztelua; es, Castillo de Javier) is located on a hill in the town of Xavier (Navarre, Spain), 52 km east of Pamplona and 7 km east of Sangüesa. Built in the 10th century, this castle was the birt ...
(a doctor in law by the
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...
, belonging to a prosperous noble family of
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Pont, later privy counsellor and finance minister to King
John III of Navarre
John III (french: Jean d'Albret; 1469 – 14 June 1516) was ''jure uxoris'' King of Navarre from 1484 until his death, as husband and co-ruler with Queen Catherine.
He was a son of Alain I, Lord of Albret and his wife Frances, Countess of Pér ...
) and Doña María de Azpilcueta y Aznárez, sole heiress to the
Castle of Xavier
The Castle of Xavier ( eu, Xabierko gaztelua; es, Castillo de Javier) is located on a hill in the town of Xavier (Navarre, Spain), 52 km east of Pamplona and 7 km east of Sangüesa. Built in the 10th century, this castle was the birt ...
(related to the theologian and philosopher
Martín de Azpilcueta
Martín de Azpilcueta (Azpilkueta in Basque) (13 December 1491 – 1 June 1586), or Doctor Navarrus, was an important Spanish canonist and theologian in his time, and an early economist who independently formulated the quantity theory of mone ...
). His brother Miguel de Jasso (later known as Miguel de Javier) became Lord of Xavier and Idocín at the death of his parents (a direct ancestor of the Counts of Javier).
In 1512,
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
, King of
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
and regent of
Castile, invaded Navarre, initiating
a war that lasted over 18 years. Three years later, Francis's father died when Francis was only nine years old. In 1516, Francis's brothers participated in a failed Navarrese-French attempt to expel the Spanish invaders from the kingdom. The Spanish Governor, Cardinal Cisneros, confiscated the family lands, demolished the outer wall, the gates, and two towers of the family castle, and filled in the moat. In addition, the height of the keep was reduced by half. Only the family residence inside the castle was left. In 1522, one of Francis's brothers participated with 200 Navarrese nobles in dogged but failed resistance against the Castilian Count of Miranda in Amaiur,
Baztan, the last Navarrese territorial position south of the Pyrenees.
In 1525, Francis went to study in Paris at the Collège Sainte-Barbe,
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
, where he spent the next eleven years. In the early days he acquired some reputation as an athlete and a high-jumper.
In 1529, Francis shared lodgings with his friend
Pierre Favre
Peter Faber (french: Pierre Lefevre or Favre, la, Petrus Faver) (13 April 1506 – 1 August 1546) was a Jesuit priest and theologian, who was also a co-founder of the Society of Jesus, along with Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier. Pope Fra ...
. A new student,
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...
, came to room with them. At 38, Ignatius was much older than Pierre and Francis, who were both 23 at the time. Ignatius convinced Pierre to become a priest, but was unable to convince Francis, who had aspirations of worldly advancement. At first, Francis regarded the new lodger as a joke and was sarcastic about his efforts to convert students. When Pierre left their lodgings to visit his family and Ignatius was alone with Francis, he was able to slowly break down Francis's resistance. According to most biographies Ignatius is said to have posed the question: "What will it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
However, according to
James Broderick
James Joseph Broderick III (March 7, 1927November 1, 1982) was an American actor. He is known for his role as Doug Lawrence in the television series ''Family'', which ran from 1976 to 1980, and he played a pivotal role in the 1975 film ''Dog Day ...
such method is not characteristic of Ignatius and there is no evidence that he employed it at all.
In 1530, Francis received the degree of Master of Arts, and afterwards taught Aristotelian philosophy at Beauvais College,
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
.
Missionary work
![StPierreParis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/StPierreParis.jpg)
On 15 August 1534, seven students met in a crypt beneath the Church of Saint Denis (now
Saint Pierre de Montmartre
Saint-Pierre de Montmartre () is one of the oldest surviving churches in Paris, second to the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, but the lesser known of the two main churches in Montmartre, the other being the more famous 19th-century Sacré-Cœur ...
), on the hill of
Montmartre
Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...
, overlooking Paris. They were Francis,
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...
,
Alfonso Salmeron,
Diego Laínez
''Several spellings of his names (James, Jacob; Laines, Laynez, Lainez) are in use and some of them can be found in other Wikipedia articles''
Diego Laynez, S.J. (sometimes spelled Laínez) (Spanish: ''Diego Laynez''), born in 1512 (Almazán, Sp ...
,
Nicolás Bobadilla from Spain,
Peter Faber
Peter Faber (french: Pierre Lefevre or Favre, la, Petrus Faver) (13 April 1506 – 1 August 1546) was a Jesuit priest and theologian, who was also a co-founder of the Society of Jesus, along with Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier. Pope Fra ...
from
Savoy
Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps.
Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.
Savo ...
, and
Simão Rodrigues
Simão Rodrigues de Azevedo (1510, Vouzela, Portugal - 15 June 1579, Lisbon), also known in English as Simon Rodericks, was a Portuguese Jesuit priest and one of the co-founders of the Society of Jesus.
A Portuguese nobleman, Rodrigues was on ...
from
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. They made private vows of
poverty, chastity, and obedience to the Pope, and also vowed to go to the Holy Land to convert infidels. Francis began his study of theology in 1534 and was ordained on 24 June 1537.
In 1539, after long discussions, Ignatius drew up a formula for a new religious order, the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
(the Jesuits). Ignatius's plan for the order was approved by
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549.
He came to ...
in 1540.
In 1540,
King John of Portugal had
Pedro Mascarenhas
Dom Pedro Mascarenhas (1480 – 16 June 1555) was a Portuguese explorer and colonial administrator. He was the first European to discover the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in 1512. He also encountered the Indian Ocean island of Mauri ...
, Portuguese ambassador to the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
, request Jesuit missionaries to spread the faith in his new possessions in India, where the king believed that Christian values were eroding among the Portuguese. After successive appeals to the Pope asking for missionaries for the
East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...
under the
Padroado
The ''Padroado'' (, "patronage") was an arrangement between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Portugal and later the Portuguese Republic, through a series of concordats by which the Holy See delegated the administration of the local churches and gr ...
agreement, John III was encouraged by
Diogo de Gouveia, rector of the
Collège Sainte-Barbe
The Collège Sainte-Barbe is a former college in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France.
The Collège Sainte-Barbe was founded in 1460 on Montagne Sainte-Geneviève (Latin Quarter, Paris) by Pierre Antoine Victor de Lanneau, teacher of religiou ...
, to recruit the newly graduated students who had established the Society of Jesus.
Ignatius promptly appointed
Nicholas Bobadilla and
Simão Rodrigues
Simão Rodrigues de Azevedo (1510, Vouzela, Portugal - 15 June 1579, Lisbon), also known in English as Simon Rodericks, was a Portuguese Jesuit priest and one of the co-founders of the Society of Jesus.
A Portuguese nobleman, Rodrigues was on ...
. At the last moment, however, Bobadilla became seriously ill. With some hesitance and uneasiness, Ignatius asked Francis to go in Bobadilla's place. Thus, Francis Xavier began his life as the first Jesuit missionary almost accidentally.
Leaving Rome on 15 March 1540, in the Ambassador's train, Francis took with him a
breviary
A breviary (Latin: ''breviarium'') is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times.
Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such a ...
, a
catechism
A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...
, and by
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
n humanist
Marko Marulić
Marko Marulić Splićanin (), in Latin Marcus Marulus Spalatensis (18 August 1450 – 5 January 1524), was a Croatian poet, lawyer, judge, and Renaissance humanist who coined the term "psychology". He is the national poet of Croatia. According to ...
, a Latin book that had become popular in the
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
. According to a 1549 letter of F. Balthasar Gago from Goa, it was the only book that Francis read or studied. Francis reached Lisbon in June 1540 and, four days after his arrival, he and Rodrigues were summoned to a private audience with the King and the Queen.
Francis Xavier devoted much of his life to missions in Asia, mainly in four centres: Malacca, Amboina and Ternate, Japan, and off-shore China. His growing information about new places indicated to him that he had to go to what he understood were centres of influence for the whole region. China loomed large from his days in India. Japan was particularly attractive because of its culture. For him, these areas were interconnected; they could not be evangelised separately.
Goa and India
Francis Xavier left
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
on 7 April 1541, his thirty-fifth birthday, along with two other Jesuits and the new
viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
Martim Afonso de Sousa
Martim Afonso de Sousa ( – 21 July 1564) was a Portugal, Portuguese ''fidalgo'', List of explorers, explorer and colonial administrator.
Life
Born in Vila Viçosa, he was commander of the first official Portuguese expedition into mainland of th ...
, on board the ''Santiago''. As he departed, Francis was given a brief from the pope appointing him
apostolic nuncio
An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...
to the East.
[ From August until March 1542 he remained in ]Portuguese Mozambique
Portuguese Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique) or Portuguese East Africa (''África Oriental Portuguesa'') were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony. Portuguese Moz ...
, and arrived in Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
, then capital of Portuguese India
The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...
, on 6 May 1542, thirteen months after leaving Lisbon.
The Portuguese, following quickly on the great voyages of discovery, had established themselves at Goa thirty years earlier. Francis's primary mission, as ordered by King John III, was to restore Christianity among the Portuguese settlers. According to Teotonio R. DeSouza, recent critical accounts indicate that apart from the posted civil servants, "the great majority of those who were dispatched as 'discoverers' were the riff-raff of Portuguese society, picked up from Portuguese jails." Nor did the soldiers, sailors, or merchants come to do missionary work, and Imperial policy permitted the outflow of disaffected nobility. Many of the arrivals formed liaisons with local women and adopted Indian culture. Missionaries often wrote against the "scandalous and undisciplined" behaviour of their fellow Christians.
The Christian population had churches, clergy, and a bishop, but there were few preachers and no priests beyond the walls of Goa. Xavier decided that he must begin by instructing the Portuguese themselves, and gave much of his time to the teaching of children. The first five months he spent in preaching and ministering to the sick in the hospitals. After that, he walked through the streets ringing a bell to summon the children and servants to catechism.[ He was invited to head Saint Paul's College, a pioneer ]seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
for the education of secular priests, which became the first Jesuit headquarters in Asia.
Conversion efforts
Xavier soon learned that along the Pearl Fishery Coast, which extends from Cape Comorin
Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...
on the southern tip of India to the island of Mannar Mannar may refer to the following places:
India
* Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Chengannur Taluk, Kerala
Sri Lanka
* Mannar District, one of 25 districts in Sri Lanka
** Mannar Island, an island within the district
**Mannar Bridge, a bridge connect ...
, off Ceylon (Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
), there was a Jāti
''Jāti'' is the term traditionally used to describe a cohesive group of people in the Indian subcontinent, like a tribe, community, clan, sub-clan, or a religious sect. Each Jāti typically has an association with an occupation, geography or t ...
of people called Paravas
Paravar (also known as Bharathar or Bharathakula and sometimes colloquially as 'Fernando') is a Tamil maritime community, mainly living in the state of Tamil Nadu in India and in Sri Lanka. Pandyas aka Bharathavars are the Ancient Sea Farers and ...
. Many of them had been baptised ten years before, merely to please the Portuguese who had helped them against the Moors, but remained uninstructed in the faith. Accompanied by several native clerics from the seminary at Goa, he set sail for Cape Comorin in October 1542. He taught those who had already been baptised and preached to those who weren't. His efforts with the high-caste Brahmins remained unavailing. The Brahmin and Muslim authorities in Travancore opposed Xavier with violence; time and again his hut was burned down over his head, and once he saved his life only by hiding among the branches of a large tree.
He devoted almost three years to the work of preaching to the people of southern India and Ceylon, converting many. He built nearly 40 churches along the coast, including St. Stephen's Church, Kombuthurai, mentioned in his letters dated 1544.
During this time, he was able to visit the tomb of Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle ( arc, 𐡀𐡌𐡅𐡕𐡌, hbo, תוֹמא הקדוש or תוֹמָא שליחא (''Toma HaKadosh'' "Thomas the Holy" or ''Toma Shlikha'' "Thomas the Messenger/Apostle" in Hebrew-Aramaic), syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ, , meaning "twi ...
in Mylapore
Mylapore, also spelt Mayilapur, is a neighbourhood in the central part of the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the oldest residential parts of the city. It is also called Tirumayilai. The locality is claimed to be the birthplace of the cel ...
(now part of Madras/Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
then in Portuguese India).[ He set his sights eastward in 1545 and planned a missionary journey to ]Makassar
Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Med ...
on the island of Celebes
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu A ...
(today's Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
).
As the first Jesuit in India, Francis had difficulty achieving much success in his missionary trips. His successors, such as de Nobili, Matteo Ricci
Matteo Ricci, SJ (; la, Mattheus Riccius; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610), was an Italians, Italian Society of Jesus, Jesuit Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He create ...
, and Beschi, attempted to convert the noblemen first as a means to influence more people, while Francis had initially interacted most with the lower classes; (later though, in Japan, Francis changed tack by paying tribute to the Emperor and seeking an audience with him).
Southeast Asia
In the spring of 1545 Xavier started for Portuguese Malacca
Portuguese control of Malacca, a city on the Malay Peninsula, refers to the 130 year period (1511–1641) when it was a possession of the Portuguese East Indies. It was conquered from the Malacca Sultanate as part of Portuguese attempts to ...
. He laboured there for the last months of that year. About January 1546, Xavier left Malacca for the Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...
, where the Portuguese had some settlements. For a year and a half, he preached the Gospel there. He went first to Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of two territories: the city of Ambon, Maluku, Ambon to the south and various districts ('' ...
, where he stayed until mid-June. He then visited the other Maluku Islands, including Ternate
Ternate is a city in the Indonesian province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands. It was the ''de facto'' provincial capital of North Maluku before Sofifi on the nearby coast of Halmahera became the capital in 2010. It is off the we ...
, Baranura, and Morotai
Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands.
Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...
. Shortly after Easter 1547, he returned to Ambon Island; a few months later he returned to Malacca.
Japan
In Malacca in December 1547, Francis Xavier met a Japanese man named Anjirō. Anjirō had heard of Francis in 1545 and had travelled from Kagoshima
, abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...
to Malacca to meet him. Having been charged with murder, Anjirō had fled Japan. He told Francis extensively about his former life, and the customs and culture of his homeland. Anjirō became the first Japanese Christian and adopted the name 'Paulo de Santa Fé'. He later helped Xavier as a mediator and interpreter for the mission to Japan that now seemed much more possible.
In January 1548 Francis returned to Goa to attend to his responsibilities as superior of the mission there. The next 15 months were occupied with various journeys and administrative measures. He left Goa on 15 April 1549, stopped at Malacca, and visited Canton. He was accompanied by Anjiro, two other Japanese men, Father Cosme de Torrès and Brother Juan Fernández. He had taken with him presents for the " King of Japan" since he was intending to introduce himself as the Apostolic Nuncio
An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...
.
Europeans had already come to Japan: the Portuguese had landed in 1543 on the island of Tanegashima
is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 444.99 km2 in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to New ...
, where they introduced matchlock firearms to Japan.
From Amboina, he wrote to his companions in Europe: "I asked a Portuguese merchant, ... who had been for many days in Anjirō's country of Japan, to give me ... some information on that land and its people from what he had seen and heard. ...All the Portuguese merchants coming from Japan tell me that if I go there I shall do great service for God our Lord, more than with the pagans of India, for they are a very reasonable people." (To His Companions Residing in Rome, From Cochin, 20 January 1548, no. 18, p. 178).[
Francis Xavier reached Japan on 27 July 1549, with Anjiro and three other Jesuits, but he was not permitted to enter any port his ship arrived at until 15 August, when he went ashore at ]Kagoshima
, abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...
, the principal port of Satsuma Province
was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Satsuma" in . Its abbreviation is .
History
Satsuma's provincial capital was Satsumasendai. Durin ...
on the island of Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
. As a representative of the Portuguese king, he was received in a friendly manner. Shimazu Takahisa
, the son of Shimazu Tadayoshi, was a ''daimyō'' during Japan's Sengoku period. He was the fifteenth head of the Shimazu clan.
Biography
In 1514, he is said to have been born in Izaku Castle. On 1526, Takahisa was adopted as the successor to Shim ...
(1514–1571), ''daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...
'' of Satsuma, gave a friendly reception to Francis on 29 September 1549, but in the following year he forbade the conversion of his subjects to Christianity under penalty of death; Christians in Kagoshima could not be given any catechism in the following years. The Portuguese missionary Pedro de Alcáçova would later write in 1554:
Francis was the first Jesuit to go t
Japan as a missionary
He brought with him paintings of the Madonna and the Madonna and Child. These paintings were used to help teach the Japanese about Christianity. There was a huge language barrier as Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
was unlike other languages the missionaries had previously encountered. For a long time, Francis struggled to learn the language. He was hosted by Anjirō's family until October 1550.[ From October to December 1550, he resided in Yamaguchi. Shortly before Christmas, he left for ]Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
but failed to meet with the Emperor. He returned to Yamaguchi in March 1551, where the daimyo of the province gave him permission to preach.
Having learned that evangelical poverty did not have the appeal in Japan that it had in Europe and in India, he decided to change his approach. Hearing after a time that a Portuguese ship had arrived at a port in the province of Bungo in Kyushu and that the prince there would like to see him, Xavier now set out southward. The Jesuit, in a fine cassock, surplice, and stole, was attended by thirty gentlemen and as many servants, all in their best clothes. Five of them bore on cushions valuable articles, including a portrait of Our Lady and a pair of velvet slippers, these not gifts for the prince, but solemn offerings to Xavier, to impress the onlookers with his eminence. Handsomely dressed, with his companions acting as attendants, he presented himself before Oshindono, the ruler of Nagate, and as a representative of the great kingdom of Portugal, offered him letters and presents: a musical instrument, a watch, and other attractive objects which had been given him by the authorities in India for the emperor.
For forty-five years the Jesuits were the only missionaries in Asia, but the Franciscans also began proselytising in Asia as well. Christian missionaries were later forced into exile, along with their assistants. Some were able to stay behind, however, Christianity was then kept underground so as to not be persecuted.
The Japanese people were not easily converted; many of the people were already Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
or Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
. Francis tried to combat the disposition of some of the Japanese that a God who had created everything, including evil, could not be good. The concept of Hell was also a struggle; the Japanese were bothered by the idea of their ancestors living in Hell. Despite Francis's different religion, he felt that they were good people, much like Europeans, and could be converted.
Xavier was welcomed by the Shingon
file:Koyasan (Mount Koya) monks.jpg, Shingon monks at Mount Koya
is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks suc ...
monks since he used the word '' Dainichi'' for the Christian God; attempting to adapt the concept to local traditions. As Xavier learned more about the religious nuances of the word, he changed to ''Deusu''[ from the Latin and Portuguese ''Deus''. The monks later realised that Xavier was preaching a rival religion and grew more aggressive towards his attempts at conversion.
With the passage of time, his sojourn in Japan could be considered somewhat fruitful as attested by congregations established in ]Hirado
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...
, Yamaguchi, and Bungo. Xavier worked for more than two years in Japan and saw his successor-Jesuits established. He then decided to return to India. Historians debate the exact path by which he returned, but from evidence attributed to the captain of his ship, he may have travelled through Tanegeshima and Minato, and avoided Kagoshima because of the hostility of the daimyo.
China
During his trip from Japan back to India, a tempest forced him to stop on an island near Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
, China, where he met Diogo Pereira, a rich merchant and an old friend from Cochin
Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...
. Pereira showed him a letter from Portuguese prisoners in Guangzhou, asking for a Portuguese ambassador to speak to the Chinese Emperor on their behalf. Later during the voyage, he stopped at Malacca on 27 December 1551 and was back in Goa by January 1552.
On 17 April he set sail with Diogo Pereira on the ''Santa Cruz'' for China. He planned to introduce himself as Apostolic Nuncio and Pereira as the ambassador of the King of Portugal. But then he realized that he had forgotten his testimonial letters as an Apostolic Nuncio. Back in Malacca, he was confronted by the captain Álvaro de Ataíde da Gama who now had total control over the harbour. The captain refused to recognize his title of Nuncio, asked Pereira to resign from his title of ambassador, named a new crew for the ship, and demanded the gifts for the Chinese Emperor be left in Malacca.
In late August 1552, the ''Santa Cruz'' reached the Chinese island of Shangchuan, 14 km away from the southern coast of mainland China, near Taishan __NOTOC__
Taishan may refer to:
*Mount Tai or Taishan (), Shandong, China
*Taishan District, Tai'an (), named after the Mount Tai, a district in Tai'an, Shandong, China
*Taishan, Guangdong (), a county-level city of Jiangmen, Guangdong, China
**Gre ...
, Guangdong, 200 km south-west of what later became Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. At this time, he was accompanied only by a Jesuit student, Álvaro Ferreira, a Chinese man called António, and a Malabar
Malabar may refer to the following:
People
* Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India
* Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion
Places
* Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...
servant called Christopher. Around mid-November, he sent a letter saying that a man had agreed to take him to the mainland in exchange for a large sum of money. Having sent back Álvaro Ferreira, he remained alone with António. He died from a fever at Shangchuan, Taishan, China, on 3 December 1552, while he was waiting for a boat that would take him to mainland China.
Burials and relics
Xavier was first buried on a beach at Shangchuan Island
Shangchuan Island (, also known as "Schangschwan", "Sancian", "Sanchão", "Chang-Chuang", "St. John's Island" or "St John Island") is the main island of Chuanshan Archipelago on the southern coast of Guangdong, China. Its name originated from São ...
, Taishan __NOTOC__
Taishan may refer to:
*Mount Tai or Taishan (), Shandong, China
*Taishan District, Tai'an (), named after the Mount Tai, a district in Tai'an, Shandong, China
*Taishan, Guangdong (), a county-level city of Jiangmen, Guangdong, China
**Gre ...
, Guangdong. His body was taken from the island in February 1553 and temporarily buried in St. Paul's Church in Portuguese Malacca
Portuguese control of Malacca, a city on the Malay Peninsula, refers to the 130 year period (1511–1641) when it was a possession of the Portuguese East Indies. It was conquered from the Malacca Sultanate as part of Portuguese attempts to ...
on 22 March 1553. An open grave in the church now marks the place of Xavier's burial. Pereira came back from Goa, removed the corpse shortly after 15 April 1553, and moved it to his house. On 11 December 1553, Xavier's body was shipped to Goa.
The body is now in the Basilica of Bom Jesus
The Basilica of Bom Jesus ( pt, Basílica do Bom Jesus; Konkani: ''Borea Jezuchi Bajilika'') is a Catholic Church, Catholic basilica located in the Goa situated in the Konkan region of India. It is both a pilgrimage centre and also the most ...
in Goa, where it was placed in a glass container encased in a silver casket on 2 December 1637.[Cappella di san Francesco Saverio](_blank)
, at the official website of Il Gesù. This casket, constructed by Goan silversmiths between 1636 and 1637, was an exemplary blend of Italian and Indian aesthetic sensibilities. There are 32 silver plates on all four sides of the casket, depicting different episodes from the life of Xavier:
*Francis lies on the ground with his arms and legs tied, but the cords break miraculously.
*Francis kisses the ulcer of a patient in a Venetian hospital.
*He is visited by Jerom as he lies ailing in the hospital of Vicenza.
*A vision about his future apostolate.
*A vision about his sister's prophecy about his fate.
*He saves the secretary of the Portuguese Ambassador while crossing the Alps.
*He lifts a sick man who dies after receiving communion but is freed from fever.
*He baptises in Travancore.
*He resuscitates a boy who died in a well at Cape Comorin.
*He cures miraculously a man full of sores.
*He drives away the Badagas in Travancore.
*He resuscitates three persons: a man who was buried at Coulao; a boy about to be buried at Multao; and a child.
*He takes money from his empty pockets and gives it to a Portuguese at Malyapore.
*A miraculous cure.
*A crab restores his crucifix which had fallen into the sea.
*He preaches in the island of Moro.
*He preaches in the sea of Malacca and announces the victory against the enemies.
*He converts a Portuguese soldier.
*He helps the dying Vicar of Malacca.
*Francis kneels down and on his shoulders there rests a child whom he restores to health.
*He goes from Amanguchi to Macao walking.
*He cures a mute or unable to speak and paralytic man in Amanguchi.
*He cures a deaf Japanese person.
*He prays in the ship during a storm.
*He baptises three kings in Cochin.
*He cures a religious in the college of St. Paul.
*Due to the lack of water, he sweetens the seawater during a voyage.
*The agony of Francis at Sancian.
*After his death, he is seen by a lady according to his promise.
*The body dressed in sacerdotal vestments is exposed for public veneration.
*Francis levitates as he distributes communion in the College of St. Paul.
*The body is placed in a niche at Chaul with lighted candles. On the top of this casket, there is a cross with two angels. One is holding a burning heart and the other a legend which says, "Satis est Domine, satis est." (''It's enough Lord, it's enough'')
The right forearm
The forearm is the region of the upper limb between the elbow and the wrist. The term forearm is used in anatomy to distinguish it from the arm, a word which is most often used to describe the entire appendage of the upper limb, but which in anat ...
, which Xavier used to bless and baptise his converts, was detached by Superior General
A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...
Claudio Acquaviva
Claudio Acquaviva, SJ (14 September 1543 – 31 January 1615) was an Italian Jesuit priest. Elected in 1581 as the fifth Superior General of the Society of Jesus, he has been referred to as the second founder of the Jesuit order.
Early life an ...
in 1614. It has been displayed since in a silver reliquary at the main Jesuit church in Rome, Il Gesù.
Another of Xavier's arm bones was brought to Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
where it was kept in a silver reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...
. The relic was destined for Japan but religious persecution there persuaded the church to keep it in Macau's Cathedral of St. Paul. It was subsequently moved to St. Joseph's and in 1978 to the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier on Coloane Island. More recently the relic was moved to St. Joseph's Church.[Chapel of St. Francis Xavier](_blank)
, at the official website of the Macau Government Tourist Office.
In 2006, on the 500th anniversary of his birth, the Xavier Tomb Monument and Chapel on Shangchuan Island, in ruins after years of neglect under communist rule in China, was restored with support from the alumni of Wah Yan College, a Jesuit high school in Hong Kong.
From December 2017 to February 2018, Catholic Christian Outreach
Catholic Christian Outreach Canada (CCO) is a Catholic missionary organization that is present at several Canadian universities. It seeks to bring students into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, equip them to live in the fullness of the ...
(CCO) in cooperation with the Jesuits, and the Archdiocese of Ottawa (Canada) brought Xavier's right forearm to tour throughout Canada. The faithful, especially university students participating with CCO at Rise Up 2017 in Ottawa, venerated the relics. The tour continued to every city where CCO and/or the Jesuits are present in Canada: Quebec City, St. John's, Halifax, St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish
, settlement_type = Town
, image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg
, image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral
, image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...
(neither CCO nor the Jesuits are present here), Kingston, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, and Montreal before returning to Ottawa. The relic was then returned to Rome with a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by Archbishop Terrence Prendergast at the Church of the Gesu
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
.
Veneration
Beatification and canonization
Francis Xavier was beatified by Paul V
Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...
on 25 October 1619, and was canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
by Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV ( la, Gregorius XV; it, Gregorio XV; 9 January 15548 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 to his death in July 1623.
Biography
Early life
Al ...
on 12 March 1622, at the same time as Ignatius Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, ...
. Pius XI proclaimed him the "Patron of Catholic Missions". His feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
is 3 December.
Pilgrimage centres
Goa
Saint Francis Xavier's relics are kept in a silver casket, elevated inside the Bom Jesus Basilica
The Basilica of Bom Jesus ( pt, Basílica do Bom Jesus; Konkani: ''Borea Jezuchi Bajilika'') is a Catholic basilica located in the Goa situated in the Konkan region of India. It is both a pilgrimage centre and also the most iconic monument ...
and are exposed (being brought to ground level) generally every ten years, but this is discretionary. The sacred relics went on display starting on 22 November 2014 at the XVII Solemn Exposition. The display closed on 4 January 2015. The previous exposition, the sixteenth, was held from 21 November 2004 to 2 January 2005.
Relics of Saint Francis Xavier are also found in the Espirito Santo (Holy Spirit) Church, Margão, in Sanv Fransiku Xavierachi Igorz (Church of St. Francis Xavier), Batpal, Canacona
Canacona () is a city and a municipal council in the district of South Goa, Goa state, India. Canacona taluka includes Patnem, Chaudi, Poinguinim, Loliem-Polem, Agonda, and Gaumdongre. Chaudi is the headquarters and the most developed town in t ...
, Goa, and at St. Francis Xavier Chapel, Portais, Panjim.
Other places
Other pilgrimage centres include Xavier's birthplace in Navarra; the Church of the Gesù
, image = Church of the Gesù, Rome.jpg
, imagesize =
, caption = Giacomo della Porta's façade, precursor of Baroque
, mapframe = yes
, mapframe-caption = Click on the map for a fulls ...
, Rome; Malacca (where he was buried for two years, before being brought to Goa); and Sancian (place of death).
Xavier is a major venerated saint in both Sonora and the neighbouring U.S. state of Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. In Magdalena de Kino
Magdalena de Kino () is a city, part of the surrounding municipality of the same name, located in the Mexican state of Sonora covering approximately 560 square miles (1,460 square kilometers). According to the 2005 census, the city's populatio ...
in Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...
, Mexico, in the Church of Santa María Magdalena, there is a reclining statue of San Francisco Xavier brought by pioneer Jesuit missionary Padre Eusebio Kino
Eusebio Francisco Kino ( it, Eusebio Francesco Chini, es, Eusebio Francisco Kino; 10 August 1645 – 15 March 1711), often referred to as Father Kino, was a Tyrolean Jesuit, missionary, geographer, explorer, cartographer and astronomer born i ...
in the early 18th century. The statue is said to be miraculous and is the object of pilgrimage for many in the region. Also the Mission San Xavier del Bac
Mission San Xavier del Bac ( es, La Misión de San Xavier del Bac) is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O'odham Nation San Xavier Indian Reservation. The mission was founded in 16 ...
is a pilgrimage site. The mission is an active parish church ministering to the people of the San Xavier District, Tohono O'odham Nation, and nearby Tucson, Arizona.
Francis Xavier is honored in the Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
and in the Episcopal Church on 3 December.
Novena of grace
The Novena of Grace
The Novena of Grace is a Catholic devotion in honor of Saint Francis Xavier. It is usually performed from March 4 to March 12.
History
In Naples in 1633, Fr. Marcello Mastrilli, S.J. took a vow asking to be assigned Japan during the Buddhist ...
is a popular devotion to Francis Xavier, typically prayed either on the nine days before 3 December, or on 4 March through 12 March (the anniversary of Pope Gregory XV's canonisation of Xavier in 1622). It began with the Italian Jesuit missionary Marcello Mastrilli
Marcello Francesco Mastrilli (1603 – October 17, 1637) was an Italian Jesuit missionary who was martyred in Japan on Mount Unzen during the Tokugawa Shogunate, which had banned Christianity in 1614. After sailing for Japan out to find and possi ...
. Before he could travel to the Far East, Mastrilli was gravely injured in a freak accident after a festive celebration dedicated to the Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...
in Naples. Delirious and on the verge of death, Mastrilli saw Xavier, who he later said asked him to choose between travelling or death by holding the respective symbols, to which Mastrilli answered, "I choose that which God wills." Upon regaining his health, Mastrilli made his way via Goa and the Philippines to Satsuma, Japan. The Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
beheaded the missionary in October 1637, after undergoing three days of tortures involving the volcanic sulphurous fumes from Mt. Unzen, known as the ''Hell mouth'' or "pit" that had supposedly caused an earlier missionary to renounce his faith.
Legacy
Francis Xavier became widely noteworthy for his missionary work
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
, both as an organiser and as a pioneer; he reputedly converted more people than anyone else had done since Paul the Apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
. In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
said of both Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...
and Francis Xavier: "not only their history which was interwoven for many years from Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and Rome, but a unique desire – a unique passion, it could be said – moved and sustained them through different human events: the passion to give to God-Trinity a glory always greater and to work for the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ to the peoples who had been ignored."[ By consulting with the earlier ancient Christians of St. Thomas in India, Xavier developed Jesuit missionary methods. His success also spurred many Europeans to join the Jesuit order, as well as to become missionaries throughout the world. His personal efforts most affected religious practice in India and in the ]East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...
(Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
). India still has numerous Jesuit missions and many more schools. Xavier also worked to propagate Christianity in China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. However, following the persecutions (1587 onwards) instituted by Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...
and the subsequent closing of Japan to foreigners (1633 onwards), the Christians of Japan had to go underground to preserve an independent Christian culture. Likewise, while Xavier inspired many missionaries to China, Chinese Christians also were forced underground there and developed their own Christian culture.
A small chapel designed by Achille-Antoine Hermitte
Achille-Antoine Hermitte (1840–) was a French architect who is known for designing the Hong Kong City Hall and the Palais du Gouverneur, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). His life is not well-documented and there is uncertainty about the date and plac ...
was completed in 1869 over Xavier's death-place on Shangchuan Island, Canton.
It was damaged and restored several times; the most recent restoration in 2006 marked the 500th anniversary of the saint's birth.
Francis Xavier is the patron saint of his native Navarre
Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
, which celebrates his feast day on 3 December as a government holiday. In addition to Roman Catholic Masses remembering Xavier on that day (now known as the Day of Navarra), celebrations in the surrounding weeks honour the region's cultural heritage. Furthermore, in the 1940s, devoted Catholics instituted the Javierada, an annual day-long pilgrimage (often on foot) from the capital at Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
to Xavier, where the Jesuits built a basilica and museum and restored Francis Xavier's family's castle.
Personal names
As the foremost saint from Navarre and one of the main Jesuit saints, Francis Xavier is much venerated in Spain and the Hispanic countries where ''Francisco Javier'' or ''Javier'' are common male given names
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...
.
The most frequent names, simple and exact for the national total and exact for the province of residence
', Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Excel spreadsheet
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows, Windows, macOS, Android (operating system), Android and iOS. It features calculation or computation capabilities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro (comp ...
format. Javier is the 10th-most popular name for males, Francisco Javier, the 18th. Together, Javier becomes the 8th most frequent name for males. The alternative spelling ''Xavier'' is also popular in the Basque Country, Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
, Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, and southern Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. In India, the spelling ''Xavier'' is almost always used, and the name is quite common among Christians, especially in Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
and in the southern states of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
, and Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
. The names ''Francisco Xavier'', ''António Xavier'', ''João Xavier'', ''Caetano Xavier'', ''Domingos Xavier'' and so forth, were very common till quite recently in Goa. ''Fransiskus Xaverius'' is commonly used as a name for Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n Catholics, usually abbreviated as FX. In Austria and Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
the name is spelt as ''Xaver'' (pronounced (ˈk͡saːfɐ)) and often used in addition to Francis as ''Franz-Xaver'' (frant͡sˈk͡saːfɐ). In Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
the name becomes ''Ksawery''. Many Catalan men are named for him, often using the two-name combination ''Francesc Xavier''. In English-speaking countries, "Xavier" until recently was likely to follow "Francis"; in the 2000s, however, "Xavier" by itself became more popular than "Francis", and after 2001 featured as one of the hundred most common male baby names in the U.S.A. Furthermore, the Sevier family name, possibly most famous in the United States for John Sevier
John Sevier (September 23, 1745 September 24, 1815) was an American soldier, frontiersman, and politician, and one of the founding fathers of the State of Tennessee. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he played a leading role in Tennes ...
(1745-1815), originated from the name "Xavier".
Church dedications
Many churches all over the world, often founded by Jesuits, have been named in honour of Xavier. The many in the United States include the historic St. Francis Xavier Shrine at Warwick, Maryland (founded 1720), and the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier
The Basilica of St. Francis Xavier is a parish church in the Archdiocese of Dubuque located in Dyersville, Iowa, United States. The church was named in honor of the missionary Saint Francis Xavier. It was raised to the status of a Minor Basilica, m ...
in Dyersville, Iowa
Dyersville is a city in eastern Delaware County and western Dubuque County in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is part of the Dubuque, Iowa, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,477 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 4,035 in 2000 ...
. Note also the American educational teaching order, the Xaverian Brothers
The Xaverian Brothers or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier are a Roman Catholic religious institute founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium, in 1839 and named after Saint Francis Xavier. The institute is dedicated to education.
Hist ...
, and the Mission San Xavier del Bac
Mission San Xavier del Bac ( es, La Misión de San Xavier del Bac) is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O'odham Nation San Xavier Indian Reservation. The mission was founded in 16 ...
in Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
(founded in 1692, and known for its Spanish Colonial architecture).
In art
* Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
(1577-1640) painted ''St Francis Xavier Raising the Dead'' for a Jesuit church in Antwerp, in which he depicted one of St Francis's many miracles.
* The Charles Bridge
Charles Bridge ( cs, Karlův most ) is a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the early 15th century.; The ...
in Prague, Czech Republic, features a statue of Francis Xavier.
* In front of Oita Station
Oita often refers to:
*Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan
*Ōita (city), the capital of the prefecture
Oita or Ōita may also refer to:
Places
* Ōita District, Ōita, a former district in Ōita Prefecture, Japan
*Ōita Stadium, a multi-use stadiu ...
of Oita City, in Oita Prefecture
Oita often refers to:
*Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan
*Ōita (city), the capital of the prefecture
Oita or Ōita may also refer to:
Places
*Ōita District, Ōita, a former district in Ōita Prefecture, Japan
*Ōita Stadium, a multi-use stadium ...
(previously known as Bungo Province
was a province of Japan in eastern Kyūshū in the area of Ōita Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Buzen Province. Bungo bordered Buzen, Hyūga, Higo, Chikugo, and Chikuzen Provinces.
History
At the end of the 7th century, Toyo ...
) in Japan, there stands a statue of Francis Xavier.
* The monument Padrão dos Descobrimentos
''Padrão dos Descobrimentos'' (; lit. ''Monument of the'' ''Discoveries'') is a monument on the northern bank of the Tagus river estuary, in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém, Lisbon. Located along the river where ships departed to explor ...
in Belém (Lisbon)
Belém () is a ''freguesia'' (civil parish) and district of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Belém is located in western Lisbon, to the west of Ajuda and Alcântara and directly east of Lisbon's border with Oeiras. Belém is famous as a museum ...
, Portugal, features a Francis Xavier image.
Music
* Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...
, ''In honorem Sancti Xaverij canticum'' H.355, for soloists, chorus, flutes, strings and continuo (1688 ?)
* Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ''Canticum de Sto Xavierio'' H.355 a, for soloists, chorus, flutes, oboes, strings and continuo (1690).
Missions
Shortly before leaving for the East, Xavier issued a famous instruction to Father Gaspar Barazeuz
Gaspar is a given name, given and/or surname of French, German, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Spanish language, Spanish origin, cognate to Casper (given name) or Casper (surname).
It is a name of biblical origin, per Saint Gaspar, one of t ...
who was leaving to go to Ormuz (a kingdom on an island in the Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
, formerly attached to the Empire of Persia, now part of Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
), that he should mix with sinners:
Modern scholars assess the number of people converted to Christianity by Francis Xavier at around 30,000. While some of Xavier's methods have subsequently come under criticism (he forced converts to take Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
names and to dress in Western clothes, approved the persecution of the Eastern Church
Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...
, and used the Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
government as a missionary tool), he has also earned praise. He insisted that missionaries adapt to many of the customs, and most certainly to the language, of the culture they wish to evangelise. And unlike later missionaries, Xavier supported an educated native clergy. Though for a time it seemed that persecution had subsequently destroyed his work in Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
missionaries three centuries later discovered that approximately 100,000 Christians still practised the faith in the Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
area.
Francis Xavier's work initiated permanent change in eastern Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, and he became known as the "Apostle of the Indies" - in 1546–1547 he worked in the Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...
among the people of Ambon
Ambon may refer to:
Places
* Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia
** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province
** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796
* Ambon, Morbihan, a c ...
, Ternate
Ternate is a city in the Indonesian province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands. It was the ''de facto'' provincial capital of North Maluku before Sofifi on the nearby coast of Halmahera became the capital in 2010. It is off the we ...
, and Morotai
Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands.
Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...
(or Moro), and laid the foundations for a permanent mission. After he left the Maluku Islands, others carried on his work, and by the 1560s there were 10,000 Roman Catholics in the area, mostly on Ambon. By the 1590s, there were 50,000 to 60,000.
Role in the Goa Inquisition
In 1546, Francis Xavier proposed the establishment of the controversial Goa Inquisition
The Goa Inquisition ( pt, Inquisição de Goa) was an extension of the Portuguese Inquisition in Portuguese India. Its objective was to enforce Catholic Orthodoxy and allegiance to the Apostolic See of Rome (Pontifex). The inquisition primaril ...
in a letter addressed to the Portuguese King, John III. Xavier addresses the King as the 'Vicar of Christ
Vicar of Christ (from Latin ) is a term used in different ways and with different theological connotations throughout history. The original notion of a vicar is as an "earthly representative of Christ", but it's also used in the sense of "person a ...
', owing to his royal patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
over Christianity in the East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...
. In a letter dated 20 January 1548, he requests the king to be tough on the Portuguese governor in India so that he may be active in propagating the faith. Xavier also wrote to the Portuguese king asking for protection in regards to new converts who were being harassed by Portuguese commandants. Francis Xavier died in 1552 without ever living to see the commencement of the Goa Inquisition.
See also
* Catholicism in China
The Catholic Church in China (called Tiānzhǔ Jiào, 天主敎, literally "Religion of the Lord of Heaven" after the Chinese term for the Christian God) has a long and complicated history. John of Montecorvino was the first Roman Catholi ...
* Catholicism in Japan
, native_name_lang =
, image = File:Tabira Catholic Church 01.jpg
, imagewidth = 300px
, alt =
, caption = The Tabira Catholic Church, Hirado, Nagasaki
, abbreviation =
, type ...
* Catholicism in India
The Catholic Church in India is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope (''Romanus Pontifex''). There are over 20 million Catholics in India,
* Catholicism in Indonesia
The Catholic Church in Indonesia ( id, Gereja Katolik di Indonesia) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. Catholicism is one of the six approved religions in Indonesia, the others being ...
* Christianity in China
Christianity in China has been present since at least the 3rd century, and it has gained a significant amount of influence during the last 200 years.
While Christianity may have existed in China before the 3rd century, evidence of its exist ...
* Christianity in Japan
Christianity in Japan is among the nation's minority religions in terms of individuals who state an explicit affiliation or faith. Between less than 1 percent and 1.5% of the population claims Christianity, Christian belief or affiliation. Altho ...
* Christianity in India
Christianity is India's third-largest religion with about 27.8 million adherents, making up 2.3 percent of the population as of the 2011 census. The written records of the Saint Thomas Christians state that Christianity was introduced to th ...
* Christianity in Indonesia
Christianity is Indonesia's second-largest religion, after Islam. Indonesia also has the second-largest Christian population in Southeast Asia after the Philippines, the largest Protestant population in Southeast Asia, and the fourth-larg ...
* Goa Inquisition
The Goa Inquisition ( pt, Inquisição de Goa) was an extension of the Portuguese Inquisition in Portuguese India. Its objective was to enforce Catholic Orthodoxy and allegiance to the Apostolic See of Rome (Pontifex). The inquisition primaril ...
* History of Roman Catholicism in Japan
Christian missionaries arrived with Francis Xavier and the Jesuits in the 1540s and briefly flourished, with over 100,000 converts, including many ''daimyōs'' in Kyushu. It soon met resistance from the highest office holders of Japan. Emperor Ōg ...
* Jesuit China missions
The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, between the 16th and 17th century played a si ...
* List of Westerners who visited Japan before 1868
This list contains notable Europeans and Americans who visited Japan before the Meiji Restoration. The name of each individual is followed by the year of the first visit, the country of origin, and a brief explanation.
16th century
* Two Portugu ...
* Mission San Xavier del Bac
Mission San Xavier del Bac ( es, La Misión de San Xavier del Bac) is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O'odham Nation San Xavier Indian Reservation. The mission was founded in 16 ...
— San Xavier District, Tohono O'odham Nation, Arizona
* Xaverian Brothers
The Xaverian Brothers or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier are a Roman Catholic religious institute founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium, in 1839 and named after Saint Francis Xavier. The institute is dedicated to education.
Hist ...
— religious order in America
* Xavier High School (New York City)
Xavier High School is an American independent university-preparatory high school for boys run by the USA Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus, in the Chelsea neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.
Named for S ...
* Xavier School
English: ''Let your light shine!''
, religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuit)
, established =
, founders =
, president = Fr. Aristotle Dy, SJ
, chairman = Johnip Cua
, administrator =
, re ...
— San Juan, Metro Manila, San Juan City, Philippines
* Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines
* St. Francis Xavier University - Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
* St. Francis Xavier Catholic Secondary School - Milton, Ontario, Canada
* St. Francis Xavier Secondary School (Mississauga), St. Francis Xavier Catholic Secondary School - Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
* St. Xavier's Institution - Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
* Portal:Catholic Church/Patron Archive/December 3, Saint Francis Xavier, patron saint archive
* Xavier College - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
* St. Xavier's College, Kolkata
* St. Xavier's Collegiate School, St. Xavier's School, Kolkata
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
* This article incorporates material from the ''Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion''
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* George M. Moraes (1952): ''St. Francis Xavier, Apostolic Nuncio (1542-52)'', Bombay, Konkan Institute of Arts and Science, 35p.
* Jou, Albert (1984). ''The Saint on a Mission''. Anand Press, Anand, India.
*
*
* Pinch, William R., "The Corpse and Cult of St. Francis Xavier, 1552–1623", in Mathew N. Schmalz and Peter Gottschalk ed. ''Engaging South Asian Religions: Boundaries, Appropriations, and Resistances'' (New York, State University of New York Press, 2011)
*
*
Further reading
*
*
* Andrew Dickson White (1896 first edition. A classic work constantly reprinted) ''A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom'', See chapter 13, part 2, ''Growth of Legends of Healing: the life of Saint Francis Xavier as a typical example''.
External links
Official website of Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa
The Shrine of Saint Francis Xavier
Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa
The Shrine of Saint Francis Xavier
''The Life of St. Francis Xavier''
''The life and letters of St. Francis Xavier''
Francis Xavier, Saint, 1506–1552 Coleridge, Henry James, 1822–1893 London: Burns and Oates, (1872)
Picture of Shangchuan island. The chapel marks the location of his death
by John Hardon, John Hardon, SJ
Brief History of Saint Francis Xavier
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xavier, Francis
1506 births
1552 deaths
16th-century Christian saints
16th-century Spanish Jesuits
Anglican saints
Jesuit missionaries in China
Jesuit saints
People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar
Roman Catholic missionaries in China
Roman Catholic missionaries in Japan
Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries
Spanish Roman Catholic saints
University of Paris alumni
Spanish exploration in the Age of Discovery
Portuguese exploration in the Age of Discovery
Canonizations by Pope Gregory XV
People from Tafalla (comarca)
16th-century people from the Kingdom of Navarre