Editing Francis Xavier (section)

==Missionary work==
On 15 August 1534, seven students met in a crypt beneath the Church of Saint Denis (now [[Saint Pierre de Montmartre]]), on the hill of [[Montmartre]], overlooking Paris. They were Francis, [[Ignatius of Loyola]], [[Alfonso Salmeron]], [[Diego Laynez|Diego Laínez]], [[Nicholas Bobadilla|Nicolás Bobadilla]] from [[Habsburg Spain|Spain]], [[Peter Faber]] from [[Duchy of Savoy|Savoy]], and [[Simão Rodrigues]] from [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]]. They made private vows of [[poverty, chastity, and obedience]] to the Pope, and also vowed to go to the Holy Land to convert infidels.{{sfn |De Rosa|2006|p=95}}{{sfn|Brodrick|1952|p=47}} 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]] (the Jesuits).{{sfn|De Rosa|2006|p=93}} Ignatius's plan for the order was approved by [[Pope Paul III]] in 1540.{{sfn|De Rosa|2006|p=37}}

In 1540, King [[John III of Portugal]] had [[Pedro Mascarenhas]], Portuguese ambassador to the [[Holy See]], request Jesuit missionaries to spread the faith in his new [[Portuguese India|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]] under the [[Padroado]] agreement, John III was encouraged by [[Diogo de Gouveia]], rector of the [[Collège Sainte-Barbe]], to recruit the newly graduated students who had established the Society of Jesus.{{sfn|Lach|1994|p=12}}

[[File:Saint Francis Xavier taking leave of King John III (1635) - José Avelar Rebelo.png|thumb|Francisco Xavier taking leave of [[John III of Portugal]] for an expedition]]
Ignatius promptly appointed [[Nicholas Bobadilla]] and [[Simão Rodrigues]]. 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.{{sfn |De Rosa|2006|p=96}}{{sfn |Brodrick|1952|p=77}}{{sfn|Wintz|2006a}}

Leaving Rome on 15 March 1540, in the Ambassador's train,{{sfn |Brodrick|1952|p=78}} Francis took with him a [[breviary]], a [[catechism]], and {{lang|la|De institutione bene vivendi per exempla sanctorum}} (Instructions for a Virtuous Life According to the Examples of the Saints) by [[Croatia]]n humanist [[Marko Marulić]],{{sfn |Brodrick|1952|p=96}} a Latin book that had become popular in the [[Counter-Reformation]]. According to a 1549 letter of F. Balthasar Gago from Goa, it was the only book that Francis read or studied.{{sfn|Kadič|1961|pp=12–18}} Francis reached Lisbon in June 1540 and, four days after his arrival, he and Rodrigues were summoned to a private audience with King John and Queen [[Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal|Catherine]].{{sfn |Brodrick|1952|p=85}}

Francis Xavier devoted much of his life to missions in Asia, mainly in four centres: Malacca, Amboina and Ternate (in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia), 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. [[Ming dynasty|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.{{sfn|Zuloaga}}

===Goa and India===
[[File:São Francisco Xavier pregando em Goa (1610) - André Reinoso (Museu de São Roque).png|thumb|''Saint Francis Xavier preaching in Goa'' (1610), by André Reinoso]]
Francis Xavier left [[Lisbon]] on 7 April 1541, his thirty-fifth birthday, along with two other Jesuits and the new [[viceroy]] [[Martim Afonso de Sousa]], on board the ''Santiago''.{{sfn |Brodrick|1952|p=100}} As he departed, Francis was given a brief from the pope appointing him [[apostolic nuncio]] to the East.{{sfn|Wintz|2006a}} From August until March 1542 he remained in [[Portuguese Mozambique]], and arrived in [[Goa]], then the capital of [[Portuguese India]], on 6 May 1542, thirteen months after leaving Lisbon.

The Portuguese, following quickly on [[Age of Discovery|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."{{sfn|DeSouza}} 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.{{sfn|de Mendonça|2002|p=}}{{pageneeded|date=March 2025}}

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.{{sfn|Astrain|1909}} After that, he walked through the streets ringing a bell to summon the children and servants to catechism.<ref name=crawley/> He was invited to head [[Saint Paul's College, Goa|Saint Paul's College]], a pioneer [[seminary]] for the education of secular priests, which became the first Jesuit headquarters in Asia.<ref>{{cite web | year = 2011| url = http://www.archgoadaman.org/content/st-pauls-college-rachol-seminary| title = St. Pauls college, Rachol Seminary| publisher = Archdiocese of Goa and Daman| access-date = 3 May 2011| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130915032209/http://www.archgoadaman.org/content/st-pauls-college-rachol-seminary| archive-date = 15 September 2013| df = mdy-all}}</ref>

'''Conversion efforts'''
[[File:Conversion of Paravas by Francis Xavier in 1542.jpg|thumb|left|Conversion of the [[Paravar]]s by Francis Xavier in [[South India]], in a 19th-century coloured lithograph]]
Xavier soon learned that along the Pearl Fishery Coast, which extends from [[Cape Comorin]] on the southern tip of India to the island of [[Mannar, Sri Lanka|Mannar]], off Ceylon ([[Sri Lanka]]), there was a [[Jāti]] of people called [[Paravar|Paravas]]. 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.<ref name=crawley/>

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.<ref name=crawley>{{cite web |url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/XAVIER2.htm |title='Saint Francis Xavier Apostle of the Indies And Japan', ''Lives of Saints'', John J. Crawley & Co., Inc. |publisher=ewtn.com |access-date=6 April 2015 |archive-date=7 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907230956/http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/XAVIER2.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

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 visited the tomb of [[Thomas the Apostle]] in [[São Tomé de Meliapore|Mylapore]], now part of Madras/[[Chennai]] then in Portuguese India.{{sfn|Wintz|2006a}} He set his sights eastward in 1545 and planned a missionary journey to [[Makassar]] on the island of [[Sulawesi|Celebes]], today's [[Indonesia]].

As the first Jesuit in India, Francis had difficulty achieving much success in his missionary trips. His successors, such as [[Roberto de Nobili]], [[Matteo Ricci]], and [[Constanzo 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 in Japan, Francis changed tack by paying tribute to the Emperor and seeking an audience with him.{{sfn|Duignan|1958|pp= 725–732}}
[[File:St. Francis Xavier - Asia Voyages.svg|thumb|300px|The voyages of Saint Francis Xavier]]

===Southeast Asia===
[[File:Saint Francis Xavier Inspiring Portuguese Troops.png|thumb|''Saint Francis Xavier Inspiring Portuguese Troops Against the Acehnese Pirates'' by [[André Reinoso]] (1619)]]
In the spring of 1545, Xavier started for [[Portuguese Malacca]]. He laboured there for the last months of that year. About January 1546, Xavier left Malacca for the [[Maluku Islands]], where the Portuguese had some settlements. For a year and a half, he preached the Gospel there. He went first to [[Ambon Island]], where he stayed until mid-June. He then visited the other Maluku Islands, including [[Ternate]], Baranura, and [[Morotai]].{{sfn|Astrain|1909}} 

Shortly after Easter 1547, he returned to Ambon Island. Aa few months later he returned to Malacca. While there, Malacca was attacked by the [[Aceh Sultanate|Acehnese]] from [[Sumatra]]. Through preaching, Xavier inspired the Portuguese to seek battle, achieving a victory at the [[Battle of Perlis River]], despite being heavily outnumbered.<ref name="monteiro1">Saturnino Monteiro (1992): ''Batalhas e Combates da Marinha Portuguesa'' Volume III, pp. 95–103.</ref>

===Japan===
{{main|History of the Catholic Church in Japan}}
[[File:Virgin Mary with Infant Jesus and Her Fifteen Mysteries, Loyola and Francis Xavier Kyoto University Museum.png|thumb|''Virgin Mary with Infant Jesus and Her Fifteen Mysteries'' by an unknown Japanese artist, c. 1600. Bottom centre: Ignatius of Loyola (left) and Francis Xavier (right)]]
In Malacca in December 1547, Francis Xavier met a Japanese man named [[Anjirō]].{{sfn|Astrain|1909}} Anjirō had heard of Francis in 1545 and had travelled from [[Kagoshima]] 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 Fe'. 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.{{sfn|Wintz|2006b}} The next 15 months were occupied with various journeys and administrative measures. He left Goa on 15 April 1549, stopped at Malacca, and visited [[Guangzhou|Canton]]. He was accompanied by Anjirō, two other Japanese men, Father [[Cosme de Torres]] and Brother [[Juan Fernández (missionary)|Juan Fernández]]. He had taken with him presents for the "[[Emperor of Japan|King of Japan]]" since he intended to introduce himself as the [[Apostolic Nuncio]].

Europeans [[List of Westerners who visited Japan before 1868|had already visited Japan]]. The [[António Mota|Portuguese first landed in 1543]] on the island of [[Tanegashima]], where they introduced [[Tanegashima (gun)|matchlock firearms]] to Japan.{{sfn|Pacheco|1974|pp= 477–480}}

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).{{sfn|Zuloaga}}

Francis Xavier reached Japan on 27 July 1549, with Anjirō and three other Jesuits, but he was not permitted to enter any port his ship arrived at until 15 August,{{sfn|Pacheco|1974|pp= 477–480}} when he went ashore at [[Kagoshima]], the principal port of [[Satsuma Province]] on the island of [[Kyūshū]]. As a representative of the Portuguese king, he was received in a friendly manner. [[Shimazu Takahisa]] (1514–1571), ''[[daimyō]]'' 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:

{{blockquote|In Cangoxima, the first place Father Master Francisco stopped at, there were a good number of Christians, although there was no one there to teach them; the shortage of labourers prevented the whole kingdom from becoming Christian.|source={{harvnb|Pacheco|1974|pp= 477–480}} }}

[[File:Francis_Xavier_and_Anjirō_and_Bernardo_the_Japanese_in_Xavier_Park.jpg|thumb|'Statue of Francisco Xavier, [[Anjirō|Yajiro]] & [[Bernardo the Japanese|Bernardo]] in Kagoshima in Xavier Park, [[Kagoshima]]]]

Francis was the first Jesuit to go to Japan as a missionary.{{sfn|Endo|1969|p=vii|loc=Translator's Preface}} He brought with him paintings of the [[Madonna and Child (Duccio, Metropolitan)|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 language|Japanese]] was unlike other languages the missionaries had previously encountered. For a long time, Francis struggled to learn the language.{{sfn|Lang|2019}} He was hosted by Anjirō's family until October 1550.{{sfn|Butler}} From October to December 1550, he resided in [[Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi|Yamaguchi]]. Shortly before Christmas, he left for [[Kyoto]] but failed to meet with [[Emperor Go-Nara]]. He returned to Yamaguchi in March 1551, where the daimyō 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.<ref name=crawley />

Five of them bore on cushions valuable articles, including a portrait of Our Lady and a pair of velvet slippers, not 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.<ref name=crawley />

For forty-five years the Jesuits were the only missionaries in Asia, but the [[Franciscans]] began proselytizing in Asia, as well. Christian missionaries were later forced into exile, along with their assistants. However, some were able to stay behind. Christianity was then kept underground so as to not be persecuted.{{sfn|Vlam|1979|p=}}{{pageneeded|date=March 2025}}

The Japanese people were not easily converted. Many of the people were already [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] or [[Shinto]]. Francis tried to combat the reservations of some of the Japanese. Many mistakenly interpreted Catholic doctrine as teaching that demons had been created evil, and they thus concluded the God who had created them could not be good. Much of Francis' preaching was devoted to providing answers to this and other such challenges. In the course of these discussions, Francis grew to respect the rationality and general literacy of those Japanese people whom he encountered. He expressed optimism at the prospect of converting the country.{{sfn|Ellis|2003|p=}}{{pageneeded|date=March 2025}}{{sfn|Xavier|1992|p=}}{{pageneeded|date=March 2025}}<ref name="fordham">{{cite web|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1552xavier4.html |title= St. Francis Xavier: Letter from Japan, to the Society of Jesus in Europe, 1552 |publisher=fordham.edu|access-date=6 April 2015}}</ref>

Xavier was welcomed by the [[Shingon]] monks since he used the word ''[[Vairocana|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''{{sfn|Butler}} from the Latin and Portuguese ''Deus''. The monks later realised that Xavier was preaching a rival religion and grew more resistant towards his attempts at conversion.

[[File:Nasugbu 31 (New Church Altar).JPG|thumb|The Altar of St. Francis Xavier Parish in [[Nasugbu, Batangas]], Philippines. Saint Francis is the principal patron of the town, together with [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|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 Province|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.{{sfn|Pacheco|1974|pp= 477–480}}

===China===
During his trip from Japan back to India, a tempest forced him to stop on an island near [[Guangzhou]], [[Guangdong]], China, where he met Diogo Pereira, a rich merchant and an old friend from [[Kochi|Cochin]]. Pereira showed him a letter from Portuguese prisoners in Guangzhou, asking for a Portuguese ambassador to speak to the [[Jiajing Emperor]] on their behalf. Later during the voyage, he stopped at Malacca on 27 December 1551 and was back in Goa by January 1552.{{citation needed|date= March 2019}}

On 17 April he set sail with Diogo Pereira on the ''Santa Cruz'' for China, planning to introduce himself as Apostolic Nuncio, and Pereira as the ambassador of the king of Portugal--but then 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 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.{{citation needed|date= March 2019}}

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|Taishan]], Guangdong. He was accompanied only by a Jesuit student called Álvaro Ferreira, a Chinese man called António, and a [[Malabars|Malabar]] servant called Christopher.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saint Francis Xavier: Biography, Missions, Facts, & Legacy |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Francis-Xavier |access-date=2 March 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=23 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723194643/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Francis-Xavier |url-status=live }}</ref> 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, and that he was waiting for the man. He had sent back Álvaro Ferreira and was staying in a small hut when he fell ill. He died, with only António as company, early in December 1552. His feast is celebrated on December 3, but it is not clear that this is the day he actually died.<ref name=brockey>{{cite journal|title=The Cruelest Honor: The Relics of Francis Xavier in Early-Modern Asia|author1-first=Liam Matthew|author1-last=Brockey|journal=The Catholic Historical Review|volume=101|issue=1|publisher=Catholic Material Culture|year=2015|pages=41&ndash;64|jstor=43900075|doi=10.1353/cat.2015.0001}}</ref>