Francis Xavier

Saint Francis Xavier (April 7, 1506 - December 2, 1552) was a pioneering Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order). The Catholic church considers him to have converted more people to Christianity then anyone else since St. Paul.

Early life

Xavier was born in the Castle of Xavier near Sanguesa and Pamplona, in Navarre, Spain. He sprang from an aristocratic family of Navarre. While studying theology at the University of Paris, he became acquainted with Ignatius Loyola, and was, along with Ignatius, Pierre Favre and 3 others, one of those who on August 15, 1534, bound themselves by a vow at Montmartre and formed the Society of Jesus.

Missionary work

The field of labor falling to Francis Xavier was that of missions to remote countries. As King John III of Portugal desired Jesuit missionaries for the Portuguese East Indies, he was ordered there in 1540, and left Lisbon on April 7, 1541. From August of that year till March 1542, he remained in Mozambique, and reached Goa, India, the capital of the then Portuguese colonies, on May 6.

His first missionary activity was among the Paravas, pearl-fishers along the southerly portion of the east coast of Hindustan. He then exerted himself to convert the king of Travancore to Christianity, on the west coast, and also visited Ceylon. Dissatisfied with the results of his activity, he turned eastward in 1545, and planned a missionary journey to Macassar, on the island of Celebes.

Having arrived in Malacca in October of that year and waited there three months in vain for a ship to Macassar, he gave up the goal of his voyage, and went to Amboyna and other of the Molucca Islands, returning to India in January 1548. The next fifteen months were occupied with various journeys and administrative measures in India.

Then his displeasure by reason of the unchristian life and manners of the Portuguese, whereby his proselyting work was seriously impeded, drove him forth once again into the unknown Far East. He left Goa on April 15, 1549, stopped at Malacca and visited Canton.

In Malacca he had met a Japanese man who convinced him to go to Japan, which he reached on August 15. He landed at Kagoshima, the principal port of the province of Satsuma, on the island of Kyushu. He was received in friendly manner and was permitted to preach, but, not knowing the Japanese language, had to limit himself to reading aloud the translation of a catechism. For all this, his sojourn was not without fruits, as is attested by congregations established in Hiudo, Samaguchi, and Bungo.

Xavier worked for more than two years in Japan and saw his successor-Jesuits established. He then returned to India, and was back in Goa by January, 1552.

In April he was again under way, aiming for China. On December 2, 1552, he died at age 46 on the island of Sancian (Chang-Chuang, St. John's Island, on the south coast of China, 125 m. south of Guangzhou), without having reached mainland China.

His body lies visible in a church in Goa.

Legacy

Francis Xavier accomplished a great missionary work both as organizer and as pioneer. By his compromises in India with the Christians of St. Thomas he developed the Jesuit missionary methods along lines that subsequently became fateful for his order; the instruction he dispensed in connection with baptism was superficial; and he combined missions with politics, and approved of the extension of Christianity by force (cf. his letter to King John III. of Portugal, Cochin, Jan. 20, 1548).

Yet he had high qualifications as missionary; he was animated with glowing zeal; the consciousness of acting in God's service never forsook him, he was endowed with great linguistic gifts, and his activity was marked by restless pushing forward. His efforts left a significant impression upon the missionary history of India; and by pointing out the way to East India to the Jesuits, his work is of fundamental significance with regard to the history of the propagation of Christianity in China and Japan.

The results of his labor that he himself witnessed were not slight (mere figures may be disregarded, as they are difficult to verify); but still greater were the tasks he proposed. And since the Roman Catholic Church responded to his call, the effects of his efforts reach far beyond the Jesuit order; the entire systematic and aggressive incorporation of great masses of people on broad lines of policy by the Roman Catholic Church in modern times, dates back to Francis Xavier.

Recognition

Francis Xavier was beatified by Paul V on October 25, 1619, and was canonized by Gregory XV on March 12, 1622.

Reference

• This articles incorporates material from the Schaff-Herzog Encyc of Religion.