Francis Xavier

This article is about the person. For schools and other uses, see St. Xavier (disambiguation).

Saint Francis Xavier
Saint Francis Xavier was one of the founding members of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits.
Apostle to the Far East
Born	(1506-04-07)7 April 1506 Xavier, Kingdom of Navarre
Died	3 December 1552(1552-12-03) (aged 46) Shangchuan Island, China
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Anglican Church
Beatified	25 October 1619 by Paul V
Canonized	12 March 1622 by Gregory XV
Feast	3 December
Attributes	crucifix; preacher carrying a flaming heart; bell; globe; vessel; young bearded Jesuit in the company of Saint Ignatius Loyola; young bearded Jesuit with a torch, flame, cross and lily
Patronage	African missions; Agartala, India; Ahmedabad, India; Alexandria, Louisiana; Apostleship of Prayer; Australia; Bombay, India; Borneo; Cape Town, South Africa; China; Dinajpur, Bangladesh; East Indies; Fathers of the Precious Blood; foreign missions; Freising, Germany; Goa India; Green Bay, Wisconsin; India; Indianapolis, Indiana; Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan; Joiliet, Illinois; Kabankalan, Philippines; Nasugbu, Batangas, Philippines; diocese of Malindi, Kenya; missionaries; Missioners of the Precious Blood; Navarre, Spain; navigators; New Zealand; parish missions; plague epidemics; Propagation of the Faith

Saint Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jaso y Azpilicueta (7 April 1506, Javier, Navarre – 3 December 1552, Shangchuan Island, China) was a Spanish pioneering Roman Catholic missionary of Navarrese origin and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who dedicated themselves to the service of God at Montmarte in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Asian Portuguese empire of the time. He was influential in the spreading and upkeep of Catholicism most notably in India (in Goa), but also ventured into Japan, Borneo, the Malaccas, and other areas which had thus far not been colonized. In these areas, being a pioneer and struggling to learn the local language of the indigenous people in the face of opposition, he had less success.

Early life

The castle of the Xavier family was later acquired by the Company of Jesus and reconstructed.

Francis Xavier was born in the family castle of Xavier (Xabier, in Basque) in the Kingdom of Navarre on 7 April 1506 according to a family register. He was born to an aristocratic family of Navarre, the youngest son of Juan de Jaso, privy counselor to King John III of Navarre (Jean d'Albret), and Doña Maria de Azpilcueta y Xavier, sole heiress of two noble Navarrese families. He was thus related to the great theologian and philosopher Martín de Azpilcueta. Following the Basque surname custom of the time, he was named after his mother; his name is accurately written Francisco de Xavier (Latin Xaverius) rather than Francisco Xavier, as Xavier is originally a place name. Basque and Romance were his two mother tongues.

Joint Castilian and Aragonese troops commanded by Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, second Duke of Alba conquered the Kingdom of Navarre in 1512. After a failed French-Navarrese attempt to reconquer the kingdom in (1516), in which Saint Francis's brothers had taken part, the outer wall, the gates and two towers of the family castle were demolished, the moat was filled, the height of the keep was reduced in half, and land was confiscated. Only the family residence inside the castle was left. Francis's father died when he was only nine years old in 1515.

Xavier met Ignatius of Loyola while they were both students at the University of Paris. While at the time he seemed destined for academic success in the line of his noble family, Ignatius reputedly turned his sights to a life a Catholic missionary service. He later joined Ignatius, together with 5 others, in founding the Society of Jesus. On the 15 August 1534, in a small chapel in Montmartre, they made a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience, and also vowed to convert the Muslims in the Middle East (or, failing this, carry out the wishes of the Pope). Francis Xavier went, with the rest of the members of the newly papal-approved Jesuit order, to Venice, Italy, to be ordained to the priesthood, which took place on 24 June 1537. Towards the end of October, the seven companions reached Bologna, where they worked in the local hospital. After that, he served for a brief period in Rome as Ignatius' secretary.

Missionary work

Francis Xavier devoted much of his life to missions in foreign countries. As King John III of Portugal desired Jesuit missionaries for the Portuguese East Indies, he was ordered there in 1540 by Ignatius on behalf of the King. The King believed that Christian values were eroding among the colonists of Goa. He left Lisbon on 7 April 1541 together with two other Jesuits and the new viceroy Martim Afonso de Sousa, on board the Santiago. From August of that year until March 1542, he remained in Mozambique then reached Goa, the capital of the then Portuguese Indian colonies on 6 May 1542. His official role there was Apostolic Nuncio and he spent the following three years operating out of Goa.

On 20 September 1543 he left for his first missionary activity among the Paravas, pearl-fishers along the east coast of southern India, North of Cape Comorin (or Template:Noredlink). He lived in a sea cave in Manapad, intensively catechizing Paravar children for three months in 1544. He then focused on converting the king of Travancore to Christianity and also visited Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Dissatisfied with the results of his activity, he set his sights eastward in 1545 and planned a missionary journey to Makassar on the island of Celebes (today's Indonesia).

As the first Jesuit in India, Francis had difficult procuring success for his missionary trips. Francis had a lack of respect for Hinduism . Instead of approaching Christianity through the traditions of the local religion and creating a nativised church as the Jesuit Matteo Ricci did in China, he was eager for change . His successors such as de Nobili, Ricci, 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 tact by paying tribute to the Emperor and seeking an audience with him). However Francis' mission was primarily, as ordered by King John III, to restore Christianity among the Portuguese settlers. Many of the Portuguese sailors had had illegitimate relationships with Indian women; Francis struggled to restore moral relations, and catechized many illegitimate children.

After arriving in Portuguese Malacca in October of that year and waiting three months in vain for a ship to Macassar, he gave up the goal of his voyage and left Malacca on 1 January 1546 for Ambon Island where he stayed until mid-June. He then visited other Maluku Islands including Ternate and More. Shortly after Easter 1546, he returned to Ambon Island and later Malacca. During this time, frustrated by the elites in Goa, Francis wrote to King John III of Portugal for an Inquisition to be installed in Goa. However he never saw the Inquisition; it began eight years after his death. The Inquisition has since been criticized as being repressive .

Voyages of St. Francis Xavier

Francis Xavier's work initiated permanent change in eastern Indonesia, and he was known as the 'Apostle of the Indies' where in 1546-1547 he worked in the Maluku Islands among the people of Ambon, Ternate, and Morotai (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 Catholics in the area, mostly on Ambon. By the 1590s there were 50,000 to 60,000.

In Malacca in December 1547 Francis Xavier met a Japanese from Kagoshima named Anjiro. Anjiro had heard from Francis in 1545 and had travelled from Kagoshima to Malacca with the purpose of meeting with him. Having been charged with murder, Anjiro had fled Japan. He told Francis extensively about his former life and the customs and culture of his beloved homeland. Anjiro helped Xavier as a mediator and translator for the mission to Japan that now seemed much more possible. "I asked [Anjiro] whether the Japanese would become Christians if I went with him to this country, and he replied that they would not do so immediately, but would first ask me many questions and see what I knew. Above all, they would want to see whether my life corresponded with my teaching."

He returned to India in January 1548. The next 15 months were occupied with various journeys and administrative measures in India. Then, due to displeasure at what he considered un-Christian life and manners on the part of the Portuguese which impeded missionary work, he travelled from the South into East Asia. He left Goa on 15 April 1549, stopped at Malacca and visited Canton. He was accompanied by Anjiro, two other Japanese men, the father Cosme de Torrès and Brother João Fernandes. He had taken with him presents for the "King of Japan" since he was intending to introduce himself as the Apostolic Nuncio.

Francis Xavier reached Japan on 27 July 1549 with Anjiro and three other Jesuits, but it was not until 15 August that he went ashore at Kagoshima, the principal port of the province of Satsuma on the island of Kyūshū. As a representative of the Portunguese king, he was received in a friendly manner. hosted by Anjiro's family until October 1550. From October to December 1550, he resided in Yamaguchi. Shortly before Christmas, he left for Kyoto but failed to meet with the Emperor. He returned to Yamaguchi in March 1551 where he was permitted to preach by the daimyo of the province. However, lacking fluency in the Japanese language, he had to limit himself to reading aloud the translation of a catechism.

Francis was the first Jesuit to go to 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 was unlike other languages the missionaries had previously encountered. For a long time Francis struggled to learn the language. Artwork continued to play a role in Francis’s teachings in Asia.

For forty five years the Jesuits were the only missionaries in Asia, but the Franciscans also began proselytizing 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 as to not be persecuted.

The Japanese people were not easily converted; many of the people were already Buddhist or Shinto. 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’ different religion, he felt that they were good people, much like Europeans, and could be converted.

Xavier was welcomed by the Shingon 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 realized that Xavier was preaching a rival religion and grew more aggressive towards his attempts at conversion.

The Altar of Template:Noredlink in Nasugbu, Batangas, Philippines. St. Francis is the principal patron of the town, together with Our Lady of Escalera.

With the passage of time, his sojourn in Japan could be considered somewhat fruitful as attested by congregations established in Hirado, 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. During his trip, a tempest forced him to stop on an island near Guangzhou, China where he saw the rich merchant Diego Pereira, an old friend from Cochin, who showed him a letter from Portuguese being held prisoners in Guangzhou asking for a Portuguese ambassador to talk to the Chinese Emperor in their favor. 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 Diego Pereira, leaving Goa on board the Santa Cruz for China. He introduced himself as Apostolic Nuncio and Pereira as ambassador of the King of Portugal. Shortly thereafter, he realized that he had forgotten his testimonial letters as an Apostolic Nuncio. Back in Malacca, he was confronted by the capitão Template:Noredlink who now had total control over the harbor. The capitão 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.

Casket of Saint Francis Xavier in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa

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, Guangdong, 200 km south-west of what later became Hong Kong. At this time, he was only accompanied by a Jesuit student, Template:Noredlink, a Chinese man called António and a Malabar 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 at Sancian from a fever on the 3 December 1552 while he was waiting for a boat that would agree to take him to mainland China.

He was first buried on a beach of Shangchuan Island. In 2006, on the 500th anniversary of his birth, the Xavier Tomb Monument and Chapel on the island, in ruins after years of neglect under communist rule in China was restored with the support from the alumni of Wah Yan College, a Jesuit high school in Hong Kong. His incorrupt body was taken from the island in February 1553 and was temporarily buried in St. Paul's church in Malacca 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 in Goa, where it was placed in a glass container encased in a silver casket on 2 December 1637.

St. Francis Xavier's humerus. St. Joseph's church, Macao

Sign accompanying St. Francis Xavier's humerus, Macao.

The right forearm, which Xavier used to bless and baptize his converts, was detached by Pr. Gen. Claudio Acquaviva 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 where it was kept in a silver reliquary. 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 Seminary and the Sacred Art Museum.

Controversy

Francis Xavier has been criticized by some for his role in initiating the Goa Inquisition, and for his iconoclasm. Francis requested the Inquisition, but he never saw it happen; it commenced eight years after his death. Yet, as noted by Voltaire, the Inquisition was often cruel, forceful and insensitive to the local culture. According to Rao, "St. Francis Xavier made it a point not only to convert the people but also destroy the idols and ancient places of worship."

In Japan, Francis publicly denounced, among other things, idolatry and practicing homosexuality. Some Japanese whom he had converted in Kirishitan took part in destroying traditional temples and shrines. One Tokugawan law stated that "Christians were bringing disorder to Japanese society and that their followers 'contravene governmental regulations, traduce Shinto, calumniate the True Law, destroy regulations, and corrupt goodness'".

Legacy

"The Vision of St. Francis Xavier", by Giovanni Battista Gaulli.

St. Francis Xavier is noteworthy for his 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 a successful blueprint for his order to follow. His efforts left a significant impression upon the missionary history of India and, as one of the first Jesuit missionaries to the East Indies, his work is of fundamental significance to Christians in the propagation of Christianity in China and Japan. India still has numerous Jesuit missions, and many more schools. There has been less of an impact in Japan.

Pope Benedict XVI said of both Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier: "not only their history which was interwoven for many years from Paris 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." As the foremost saint from Navarre and one of the main Jesuit saints, he is much venerated in Spain and the Hispanic countries where Francisco Javier or Javier are common male given names. The alternative spelling Xavier is also popular in Portugal, Brazil, France, Belgium, and southern Italy. In Austria and Bavaria the name is spelled as Xaver (pronounced Ksaber and often used in addition to Francis as Franz-Xaver. In English speaking countries, "Xavier" is one of the few names starting with X, and until recently was likely to follow "Francis"; in the last decade, however, "Xavier" by itself has become more popular than "Francis", and is now one of the 100 most common male baby names in the US.

Many churches all over the world have been named in honor of Xavier, often founded by Jesuits. One notable church is the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier in Dyersville, Iowa. The Template:Noredlink is an annual pilgrimage from Pamplona to Xavier instituted in the 1940s.

The Novena of Grace is a popular devotion to Francis Xavier, typically prayed on the nine days before 3 December.

One of his relatives is John Sevier. The Sevier family name originated from the name Xavier.

Beatification and Canonization

Francis Xavier is a Catholic saint. He was beatified by Paul V on 25 October 1619 and was canonized by Gregory XV on 12 March 1622 at the same time as Ignatius Loyola. He is considered to be a patron saint of Roman Catholic missionaries in foreign lands. His feast day is 3 December.

Educational Institutions

Numerous schools named Xavier, St. Xavier or St. Francis Xavier, most of them founded by the Jesuits, can be found in many parts of the world. Several are located in places where the saint proselytized:

• St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada - founded in 1853 by the second bishop of Arichat and first bishop of Antigonish, Dr. Colin F. MacKinnon. It has been ranked by Maclean's Magazine as the best undergraduate school in the nation for five consecutive years, and now the best undergraduate school ranked by students.
• St. Xavier's College - founded in 1963, is located in Mapusa, in the Northern district of the Indian state of Goa where the eponymous saint's relic lies.
• Xavier University (commonly known as Ateneo de Cagayan) - founded by the Jesuits located in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines; it is the largest school in Northern Mindanao and it also ranked 12th in the Philippines' Top 20 Schools list.
• Xavier School - in Manila, is a preparatory school for males.

In the United States of America

• Xavier University - Cincinnati, Ohio is Jesuit and has the largest enrollment of 6,500.
• Xavier University of Louisiana - in New Orleans, has an enrollment of 3,200 in 2009, rising back towards its peak enrollment pre-Hurricane Katrina of 4,121 (2005). It is the only college in the United States that is both Catholic and historically Black; it is also the only college in the United States founded by a saint (St. Katherine Drexel).
• Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois - one of the oldest higher educational centers in that leading Midwestern metropolis.
• Xavier College Preparatory in Palm Desert, California.

Schools

• Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, MA, USA
• St Francis Xavier College (Canberra) in Florey, Canberra, Australia
• Saint Xavier High School in Cincinnati and Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa have prominent statues of St. Francis Xavier on their campuses.
• Xavier High School - a male only Jesuit university-preparatory high school located at 30 West 16th Street, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
• Template:Noredlink in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
• St. Francis Xavier College in Beaconsfield, Victoria, Australia
• St. Francis Xavier's College in Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
• St. Francis Xavier High Shool in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
• Xavier College, formerly known as St Francis Xavier College - a Jesuit school in Melbourne, Australia also named after Francis Xavier
• Francis Xavier College, in Beaconsfield, Victoria, Australia.
• Xavier College Llandilo, founded in 1999, is situated in western Sydney.
• Xaverian College in Manchester, England - one of the most renowned and successful colleges in the country.
• Saint Francis Xavier's college in Template:Noredlink a school that specialises in ICT.
• Saint Francis Xavier primary school in Woolgoolga, NSW, Australia
• Saint Francis Xavier primary school in Vancouver, BC, Canada
• Saint Francis Xavier Parochial School, Nasugbu, Batangas
• St.Xavier high school in Eluru (West Godavari Dist of Andhra Pradesh State in India)
• St. Xavier's Institution in Penang, Malaysia
• St. Francis Institution in Malacca, Malaysia
• St. Francis Xavier Junior Seminary, Wa, Ghana (West Africa)
• St. Xavier's High School, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
• St. Francis Xavier's Girl's High School, Dhaka, Bangladesh- founded in 1912 by the Our Lady of the Missions congregation
• St. Francis Xavier Catholic School, Metairie, Louisiana USA

Fictional

• In Rudyard Kipling's book Kim, the eponymous hero is sent to St. Xavier's School in Lucknow, a fictional establishment said (in the book) to be the most prestigious school in British India.

See also

• Goa Inquisition
• Jesuit China missions
• Catholicism in China
• Christianity in China
• Flying Saints
• Roman Catholicism in Japan
• Xavier University of Louisiana

References

• This article incorporates material from the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion
• Attwater, Donald. (1965) A Dictionary of Saints. Penguin Books, Middlesex, England. Reprint: 1981.
• Jou, Albert. (1984) The Saint on a Mission. Anand Press, Anand, India.

External links

• Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa The Shrine of Saint Francis Xavier
• Saint Francis Xavier University Antigonish, Nova Scotia
• 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)
• Xavier's World website of Navarre Department of Education celebrating 500th anniversary of their patron saint's birth
• A critical view
• St. Francis Xavier - Pictorial Biography
• Saint François Xavier Template:Fr icon
• St. Francis of the Millennium
• The Goa Jesuit Province of the Society of Jesus: The Jesuits in Goa
• The Feast of St Francis Xavier in Goa
• Picture of Shangchuan island. The chapel marks the location of his death
• Another picture of the church on Shangchuan island
• Old map of Shangchuan island
• The Miracles of St Francis Xavier by John Hardon, SJ
• St Francis Xavier: History of His Incorrupt Body
• Brief History of St Francis Xavier
• Saint Francis Xavier at Patron Saints Index
• St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Parkersburg, WV
• Yomiuri Shimbun: St. Francis Xavier -- 90% name recognition amongst primary school students in Japan, 2008.