Francis+Xavier

media type="file" key="Corkrin, Francis Xavier.mp3"

__**-Saint Francis Xavier 1506 - 1552**__

-Francis Xavier was born in his family’s castle of Xavier near the town of Sangüesa in the Basque country of northern Spain on April 7, 1506.His father, Juan de Jasso, was the president of the council in the court of the king of Navarre. Xavier grew up in Navarre, where he also received his early education.In 1525 he went to study at the University of Paris; he graduated with a master of arts degree in 1530, then lectured at one of the colleges of the university. While at the university Francis Xavier became an associate of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits. Xavier took the vows of poverty and chastity in August 1534; he studied theology until 1536 when he went to Venice, Italy, to be ordained as a priest on June 24, 1537.


 * Sent to Portugal and India**

Xavier was sent to Lisbon in 1540 by the pope with a recommendation to King João III of Portugal that he be assigned as a missionary to the Far East, where Portugal was the leading European trading nation. He left Portugal on April 7, 1541, spent the following winter in the Portuguese province of Mozambique, and arrived at the Portuguese city of Goa in India on May 6, 1542. He made a trip to Travancore in southern India in 1543 and is credited with baptizing 10,000 Indians into Christianity while there. On his return to Goa he was appointed chief of all Catholic missions east of the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. n 1545 Xavier traveled to Portuguese posts in southern India and then went to the great trading center of Malacca in what is now Malaysia. In 1546 he traveled to the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, in eastern Indonesia. He returned to Malacca in July 1547. In Malacca he heard for the first time about the distant islands of Japan, where three Portuguese traders had landed in 1542 after having been shipwrecked while on a voyage to northern China. As news of Japan filtered back to the Portuguese trading stations, Xavier determined to go to the country himself. First, however, he returned to India.


 * Brings Christianity to Japan**

Xavier left Goa bound for Japan on April 15, 1549, with two Jesuit companions and three young Japanese who had come with a Portuguese trader to Malacca and had been converted to Christianity. They arrived at the port of Kagoshima on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu on August 15, 1549. Xavier stayed in Japan for two years. During that time he traveled to the port of Hirado on a small island off the west coast of Kyushu.

Xavier then traveled to the castle town of Yamaguchi, which was the headquarters of the Ouchi clan, the feudal rulers of western Japan. At Yamaguchi he argued matters of theology with Bud[|Corkrin, Francis Xavier.mp3]dhist monks of the Lotus and Zen sects. When he visited the capital of the emperor of Japan at Kyoto, he found the city in political turmoil, so he returned to Yamaguchi. At Bungo, the center of the Otomo clan, he was warmly accepted; the head of the Otomo clan converted to Christianity and welcomed Xavier’s successors.

As a result of Xavier’s visit, a Roman Catholic mission was founded on the southern island of Kyushu and had a great deal of success over the following decades. By the year 1615 there were an estimated 500,000 Christians in Japan. At that time, however, the Tokugawa military governor had started to persecute Christians and to cut Japan’s ties with the rest of the world. The Portuguese were expelled in 1639, and contact with Europe was limited to a small Dutch trading post in the southern city of Nagasaki, which had been founded by Christians in the 1560s and was sometimes ruled by Jesuits.

Decides to visit China

Xavier left Bungo in November 1551, reaching Goa in the middle of February 1552. He had decided his next goal was to start missions in China. However, the great Chinese empire, becoming wary of foreign influence and power, was zealously guarding entry into its domains. A Portuguese ambassador was sent out to try to get permission for Xavier to travel to China and to secure the release of some Portuguese who were being held in Canton. The Chinese refused even to talk to the ambassador. Having left Goa on April 17, 1552, Xavier was already in Malacca and he decided to enter China on his own, without official permission. At the end of August Xavier reached the small island of Shang-ch’uan in the Pearl River estuary near Canton, where the Portuguese had been allowed to set up a small trade fair. He became ill in November and died at Shang-ch’uan on December 3, 1552. He was made a saint of the Roman Catholic church in 1622. (Saint Francis Xavier 1506 - 1552. In U.X.L. Biographies 2.0 [Web]. U.X.L Biographies 2.0. Retrieved 9-28-08.)

-Early life

He was born in the family cabin of [|Xavier]  (from [|Basque]  //etxe berri//, "new house") near [|Sangüesa]  and [|Pamplona] , in the [|Kingdom of Navarre] , on [|7 April]  [|1506] , according to a family register. He was born to an aristocratic family of Navarre. He was the youngest son of Juan of Jasso, privy councillor to King John III of Navarre ( <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Jean d'Albret] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">), and Maria de Azpilicueta y Xavier, sole heiress of two noble Navarrese families. Following the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Spanish surname] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> custom of the time, he was named after his mother [//[|citation needed]//] ; his name is accurately written Francisco de Xavier (Latin Xaverius) rather than Francisco Xavier, as Xavier is originally a place name. When joint <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Castilian] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> and <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Aragonese] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> troops commanded by Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Duke of Alba] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> conquered the kingdom in 1512, incorporating it to the then-newborn (1492) union of <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Spain] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, many fortresses were devastated, including the family castle, and land was confiscated. Francis' father died when he was only 9 in 1515. Francis Xavier went to Venice, Italy and there he was ordained to the priesthood on June 24, 1537. After ordination, he served for a brief period in Rome. 

<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> Missionary work
<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Francis Xavier devoted much of his life to missions in foreign countries. As <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|King John III of Portugal] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> desired Jesuit missionaries for the Portuguese <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|East Indies] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, he was ordered there in 1540. He left <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Lisbon] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> on <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|April 7] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|1541] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, together with two other Jesuits and the new <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|viceroy] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Martim de Sousa] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, on board the //Santiago//. From August of that year until March 1542, he remained in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Mozambique] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> then reached <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Goa] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, the capital of the then <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Portuguese] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> Indian <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|colonies] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> on <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|May 6] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> 1542. His official role there was <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Apostolic Nuncio] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> and he spent the following three years operating out of Goa. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">On <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|September 20] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, 1543, he left for his first missionary activity among the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Paravas] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, pearl-fishers along the east coast of southern India, North of <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Cape Comorin] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> (or <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Sup Santaz] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">). He lived in a sea cave in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Manapad] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, intensively catechizing Paravar children for three months in 1544. He then focused on converting the king of <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Travancore] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> to Christianity and also visited <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Ceylon] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> ( <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Sri Lanka] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">). Dissatisfied with the results of his activity, he set his sights eastward in 1545 and planned a missionary journey to <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Macassar] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> on the island of <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Celebes] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> (today's <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Indonesia] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">). <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">After arriving to <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Malacca] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> 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 <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|January 1] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|1546] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> for <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Amboyna] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> where he stayed until mid-June. He then visited other <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Molucca Islands] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> including <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Ternate] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> and <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|More] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. Shortly after Easter 1546, he returned to Ambon Island and later Malacca. During this time, frustrated by the elites in Goa, St. Francis wrote to <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|King D. João III] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> for an <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Inquisition] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> to be installed in Goa. However, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|this Inquisition] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> did not begin until eight years after his death. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Francis Xavier's work initiated permanent change in eastern <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Indonesia] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">,and was known as Apostle of Indies where in 1546-1547 he worked in the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Maluku] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> region among the people of <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Ambon] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Ternate] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, and <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Morotai] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> (or Moro), and laid the foundations for a permanent mission. After he left Maluku, 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.[|[2]] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">In December 1547, in Malacca, Francis Xavier met a <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Japanese] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> nobleman from <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Kagoshima] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> named <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Anjiro] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. Anjiro had heard from Francis in 1545 and had travelled from Kagoshima to Malacca with the purpose of meeting him. Having been charged with murder, Anjiro fled Japan. He poured his heart out to Francis Xavier, telling him about his former life and the customs and culture of his beloved homeland. Anjiro was a <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|samurai] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> and as such provided Xavier with a skilled mediator and translator for the mission to Japan that now seemed much closer to reality. “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." <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">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 <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|April 15] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|1549] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, stopped at Malacca and visited <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Canton] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. He was accompanied by Anjiro, two other Japanese men, the father <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Cosme de Torrès] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> and Brother João Fernandes. He had taken with him presents for the " <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|King of Japan] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">" since he was intending to introduce himself as the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Apostolic Nuncio] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Xavier reached Japan on <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|July 27] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, 1549, but it was not until August 15 that he went ashore at Kagoshima, the principal port of the province of <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Satsuma] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> on the island of <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Kyūshū] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. He was received in a friendly manner and was hosted by Anjiro's family until October 1550. From October to December 1550, he resided in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Yamaguchi] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. Shortly before Christmas, he left for <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Kyoto] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> but failed to meet with the Emperor. He returned to Yamaguchi in March 1551 where he was permitted to preach by the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|daimyo] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> of the province. However, lacking fluency in the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Japanese language] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, he had to limit himself to reading aloud the translation of a <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|catechism] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Xavier was welcomed by the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Shingon] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> monks since he used the word //[|Dainichi]// for the Christian God. As Xavier learned more about the religious nuances of the word, he changed to //Deusu// from the Latin and Portuguese //Deus//. The monks also realized that Xavier was preaching a rival religion. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">With the passage of time, his sojourn in Japan can be considered fruitful as attested by congregations established in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Hirado] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, Yamaguchi and <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Bungo] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. 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 <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Guangzhou] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|China] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> where he saw the rich <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|merchant] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> Diego Pereira, an old friend from <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Cochin] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, 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 <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|December 27] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, 1551 and was back in Goa by January, 1552. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">On <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|April 17] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> 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// <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Álvaro de Ataíde de Gama] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> 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. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">In early September 1552, the //Santa Cruz// reached the Chinese island of <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Shangchuan] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, 14 km away from the southern coast of mainland China, near <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Taishan] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Guangdong] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, 200 km south-west of what later became <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Hong Kong] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. At this time, he was only accompanied by a Jesuit student, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Álvaro Ferreira] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, a Chinese man called António and a <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Malabar] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> 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. 

<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> The non-Christian perspective
<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">The non-Christian perspective is different. He has been criticized for his responsibility in initiating the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Goa Inquisition] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> and for his iconoclasty. 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." [|[3]] 

<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Death
<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">He died in the year 1552 on the 3rd of December while he was on his journey to China, he died before he reached the mainland. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">He was first buried on a beach of Shangchuan Island. His <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|incorrupt] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> body was taken from the island in February 1553 and was temporarily buried in St. Paul's church in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Malacca] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> on <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|22 March] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, 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 April 15, 1553, and moved it to his house. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">On <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|11 December] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, 1553, Xavier's body was shipped to Goa. The body is now in the in the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Basilica of Bom Jesus] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> in Goa, where it was placed in a glass contain <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">er encased in a silver casket on December 2, 1637. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">The right <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|forearm] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, which Xavier used to bless and baptize his converts, was detached by Pr. Gen. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Claudio Acquaviva] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> in 1614. It has been displayed since in a silver reliquary at the main Jesuit church in Rome, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Il Gesù] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">.[|[4]] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Another of Xavier's arm bones was brought to <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Macau] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> where it was kept in a silver <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|reliquary] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. The relic was destined for <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Japan] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> but religious persecution there persuaded the church to keep it in Macau's <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Cathedral of St. Paul] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. It was subsequently moved to St. Joseph′s and in 1978 to the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier on <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Coloane Island] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. More recently the relic was moved to St. Joseph's Seminary and the Sacred Art Museum.[|[5]] 

<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> Legacy
<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">St. Francis Xavier is noteworthy for his <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|missionary work] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, both as organizer and as pioneer. By his compromises in India with the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Christians of St. Thomas] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, 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 <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|East Indies] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, his work is of fundamental significance to Christians in the propagation of Christianity in China and Japan. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Pope Benedict XVI] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> said of both <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Ignatius of Loyola] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> 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."[|[6]] As the foremost saint from Navarre and one of the main Jesuit saints, he is very venerated <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|in Spain and the Hispanic countries] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> where //Francisco Javier// or //Javier// are common male <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|given names] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">.[|[7]] As a spin-off, Xavier itself became a male name popular in Portugal, Brazil, France, Belgium, and southern <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Italy] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. In <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Austria] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> and <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Bavaria] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> the name is spelled as Xaver (pronounced //Ksaber// and often used in addition to Francis as Franz-Xaver. Xavier is one of the few <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|names starting with X] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> in English. It is also notable that it is common in English-speaking fiction that a character named Francis has the middle initial X (for Xavier). This is possibly attributable to the actor <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Francis X. Bushman] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> or to Sir Francis Xavier himself. Notable examples are the character of Francis X. Hummel in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|The Rock] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> and the X-Men character <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Charles Francis Xavier] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Many churches all over the world have been named in honor of Xavier, often founded by Jesuits. One notable church is the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Basilica of St. Francis Xavier] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Dyersville, Iowa] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">The <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Javierada] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> is an annual pilgrimage from Pamplona to Xavier instituted in the 1940s. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">The <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Novena of Grace] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> is a popular devotion to Francis Xavier, typically prayed on the 9 days before December 3rd. 

<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> Beatification
<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Francis Xavier is a Catholic <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|saint] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. He was beatified by <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Paul V] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> on <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|October 25] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|1619] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, and was <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|canonized] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> by <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Gregory XV] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> on <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|March 12] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|1622] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, at the same time as <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Ignatius Loyola] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. He is the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|patron saint] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> of missionaries. His <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|feast day] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> is December 3. 

<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> Educational Institutions
<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Numerous schools named <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|St. Xavier] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> and <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|St. Francis Xavier] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, most founded by the Jesuits, can be found in many parts of the world. There is also <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Xavier University] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, a name which is shared by more than one college in the United States. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Xavier University of Louisiana] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, in New Orleans, 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). Xavier University in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Cincinnati, Ohio] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> and Xavier High School in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Cedar Rapids, Iowa] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> both have prominent statutes of St. Francis Xavier on their campuses and Saint Xavier University in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Chicago, Illinois] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> is one of the oldest higher educational centers in that leading Midwestern metropolis. Xavier College, formerly known as St Francis Xavier College, is a jesuit school in Melbourne, Australia also named after Francis Xavier. Xavier College Llandilo, founded in 1999, situates in western Sydney <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Manchester] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|England] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> is the home of the famous <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Xaverian College] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> which is one of the most renowned and successfull colleges in the country. Another is the Jesuit <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Xavier University (Cagayan de Oro)] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> or commonly known as //[|Ateneo] de Cagayan// 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. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|St. Francis Xavier University] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Antigonish, Nova Scotia] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Canada] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> is consistently ranked by <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Maclean's Magazine] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> as the best undergraduate school in the nation [|[8]]. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Francis_Xavier. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from Wikipedia.org Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Francis_Xavier )

[|Feastday:] December 4
 * __-St. Francis Xavier__**

FRANCIS XAVIER, ST. (1506-1552). Born in the [|family] castle of Xavier, near [|Pamplona] in the Basque area of Spanish [|Navarre] on Apr. 7, he was sent to the University of [|Paris] 1552, secured his licentiate in 1528, met Ignatius Loyola and became one of the seven who in 1534, at Montmartre founded the [|Society] of Jesus. In 1536 he left [|Paris] to join Ignatius in Venice, from whence they all in tended to go as missionaries to Palestine (a trip which never materialized), was ordained there in 1537, went to [|Rome] in 1538, and in 1540, when the pope formally recognized the Society, was ordered, with Fr. Simon Rodriguez, to the Far East as the first Jesuit missionaries. King [|John III] kept Fr. Simon in Lisbon, but Francis, after a year's voyage, six months of which were spent at [|Mozambique] where he preached and gave aid to the sick eventually arrived in Goa, [|India] in 1542 with Fr. Paul of Camerino an Italian, and Francis Mansihas, a Portuguese. There he began preaching to the natives and attempted to reform his fellow Europeans, living among the natives and adopting their customs on his travels. During the next decade he converted tens of thousands to Christianity. He visited the Paravas at the tip of India. near Cape Comorin, Tuticorin (1542), [|Malacca] (1545), the Moluccas near [|New Guinea] and Morotai near the Philippines (1546-47), and [|Japan] (1549- 51). In 1551, [|India] and the East were set up as a separate province and Ignatius made Francis its first provincial. In 1552 he set out for China, landed on the island of Sancian within sight of his goal, but died before he reached the mainland. Working against great difficulties, language problems ( contrary to legend, he had no proficiency in foreign tongues ), inadequate funds, and lack of cooperation, often actual resistance, from European officials, he left the [|mark] of his missionary [|zeal] and energy on areas which clung to [|Christianity] for centuries. He was canonized in 1622 and proclaimed patron of all foreign missions by Pope Pius X. F. D. Dec. 3. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=423. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from Catholic.org Web site: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=423)

he lived in France in his family's castle, Castle Xavier. he was born on April 7, 1506. his father was Don Juan. his father was sent to tell teh king of Spain not to march through France otherwise it will mean war. Francis was 6 years old at this time. his father died when he was 9 years old, after being away at war for 2 years. he was canonized on March 12, 1622. (Nevins, A.J. (1995). //Saint Francis Of The Seven Seas//. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press.)
 * __-Saint Francis Xavier__**


 * __Script__**

Saint Francis Xavier was a man who brought Christianity to the many peoples of the far east and Japan. He was born on April 7, 1506, in his family castle, Castle Xavier in Navarre France. His father, Don Juan, was the president of the council in the court of the king of Navarre. Saint Francis received his childhood education in his hometown, then went on to study in Paris in 1525. He obtained a master of arts degree in 1530. While attending school in Paris, he met Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Francis decided to follow in the footsteps of Ignatius, and joined the Jesuits in August 1534, as well as taking the vows of poverty and chastity. He then studied theology until 1536. After this he went to Venice, Italy to be ordained a priest. The date was June 24, 1537. Xavier was then sent by the Pope with a recomendation to King Joao of Portugal III to become a missionary in the Far East.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Xavier left Portugal on April 7, 1541, spent the following winter in the Portuguese province of Mozambique, and arrived at the Portuguese city of Goa in India on May 6, 1542.

He then made a trip to Travancore in southern India in 1543 and is credited with baptizing 10,000 Indians into Christianity while there. On his return to Goa he was appointed chief of all Catholic missions east of the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. n 1545 Xavier traveled to Portuguese posts in southern India and then went to the great trading center of Malacca in what is now Malaysia. In 1546 he traveled to the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, in eastern Indonesia.

Then He returned to Malacca in July 1547.

In Malacca he heard for the first time about the distant islands of Japan, where three Portuguese traders had landed in 1542 after having been shipwrecked while on a voyage to northern China. As news of Japan filtered back to the Portuguese trading stations, Xavier determined to go to the country himself. First, however, he returned to India. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">

Xavier left Goa bound for Japan on April 15, 1549, with two Jesuit companions and three young Japanese who had come with a Portuguese trader to Malacca and had been converted to Christianity.

They arrived at the port of Kagoshima on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu on August 15, 1549. Xavier stayed in Japan for two years. During that time he traveled to the port of Hirado on a small island off the west coast of Kyushu. Xavier then traveled to the castle town of Yamaguchi, which was the headquarters of the Ouchi clan, the feudal rulers of western Japan.

At Yamaguchi he argued matters of theology with Buddhist monks of the Lotus and Zen sects. When he visited the capital of the emperor of Japan at Kyoto, he found the city in political turmoil, so he returned to Yamaguchi. At Bungo, the center of the Otomo clan, he was warmly accepted; the head of the Otomo clan converted to Christianity and welcomed Xavier’s successors. As a result of Xavier’s visit, a Roman Catholic mission was founded on the southern island of Kyushu and had a great deal of success over the following decades. By the year 1615 there were an estimated 500,000 Christians in Japan.

At that time, however, the Tokugawa military governor had started to persecute Christians and to cut Japan’s ties with the rest of the world.

The Portuguese were expelled in 1639, and contact with Europe was limited to a small Dutch trading post in the southern city of Nagasaki, which had been founded by Christians in the 1560s and was sometimes ruled by Jesuits. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> Xavier left Bungo in November 1551, reaching Goa in the middle of February 1552.

He had decided his next goal was to start missions in China. However, the great Chinese empire, becoming wary of foreign influence and power, was zealously guarding entry into its domains. A Portuguese ambassador was sent out to try to get permission for Xavier to travel to China and to secure the release of some Portuguese who were being held in Canton.

The Chinese refused even to talk to the ambassador. Having left Goa on April 17, 1552, Xavier was already in Malacca and he decided to enter China on his own, without official permission. At the end of August Xavier reached the small island of Shang-ch’uan in the Pearl River estuary near Canton, where the Portuguese had been allowed to set up a small trade fair.<span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">He died in the year 1552 on the 3rd of December while he was on his journey to China,h <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">e was first buried on a beach of Shangchuan Island. His <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|incorrupt] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> body was taken from the island in February 1553 and was temporarily buried in St. Paul's church in <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Malacca] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> on <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|22 March] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, 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 April 15, 1553, and moved it to his house. <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. The body is now in the in the <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|Basilica of Bom Jesus] <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> in Goa, where it was placed in a glass contain <span style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">er encased in a silver casket on December 2, 1637.

He <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">was canonized on March 12, 1622.