Dateline:
May 6, 1542 – St. Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of
Portuguese India at the time. Here is my photo of his coffin inside the
Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa.
Francis Xavier, born Francisco de
Jasso y Azpilicueta (7 April 1506 – 3 December 1552) was a Roman
Catholic missionary born in Xavier, Kingdom of Navarre (now part of
Spain), and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was
a student of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits,
dedicated at Montmartre in 1534.He led an extensive mission into Asia,
mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time. He was influential in the
spreading and upkeep of Catholicism most notably in India, but also
ventured into Japan, Borneo, the Moluccas, and other areas which had
thus far not been visited by Christian missionaries. In these areas,
being a pioneer and struggling to learn the local languages in the face
of opposition, he had less success than he had enjoyed in India. It was a
goal of Xavier to one day reach China.
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