Mission in TODAY
Vol. XVIII x No. 6
JULY 2006
Francis Xavier
A contradictory figure
Francis Xavier emerges as a rather complex and contradictory figure, either as a person or as a missionary. An objective appraisal of the saint should be based on the totality of his being, with lights and shadows constantly intersecting his prodigious personality. In the words of his first biographer: "God does not need our lies."
By Luis M. Bermejo
Jesuit
Xavier emerges as a rather complex individual with sharply contrasting traits in his character. We see a man who could spend hours on the beach, praying alone in the stillness of the night under the canopy of twinkling stars – and could move relentlessly from place to place. A man who could shed tears of devotion at Mass and be raised above the ground, but who also advocated the introduction of the infamous inquisition in India as a remedy against the loose morals of the Portuguese. A man who could be deeply attached to some of his Jesuit brethren and be extremely harsh to others.
A man who could go about in the Fishery Coast (South India) in a patched, tattered cassock and strut in Japan like a colorful peacock, dressed up in silk and satin. A man who loved passionately the Society of Jesus and, at the same time, advocated placing it under the control of civil authorities. A man who always preserved his virginity intact but who played with the enticing idea of visiting brothels in Paris; only when he saw the ravages of the venereal diseases on the face of his companions did Francis pulled back from the brink. A man who could joyfully frolic and play with an apple, like a child, in the frozen snows of Japan – and who could be angry, despondent and depressed when traveling back to India.
Criticized methods
His missionary methods are now openly criticized when viewed from the larger perspective of Vatican II, but his critics should remember that they are not saying anything new for, in his own lifetime, such methods were sharply criticized as well by some of his fellow Jesuits working under him in India and by St. Ignatius himself in Rome. These two Basques – Ignatius and Francis – were affectively and effectively united by very strong bonds of affection and love but this did not prevent their repeated, open disagreements in matters of missionary policy. A few concrete examples will suffice.
Xavier has hurriedly baptized 10,000 Indians in the Travancore Coast without any pre-baptismal catechesis. Ignatius was informed of this and his reply, in short, was: "Francis, congratulations for your great apostolic success but please do not do it again." Ignatius insisted that baptism should not be hastily administered without previous instruction.
Francis was always on the move, almost constantly undertaking apostolic journeys. Ignatius disagreed. In his opinion, excessive apostolic activity was not an asset but a drawback, a liability. Towards the end of his life, Francis was already dreaming of China and tried his best to enter that forbidden kingdom. Ignatius was explicit: "I am of the opinion that God would have been better served if you had remained in India and sent someone else to China."
Francis was in the habit of taking important missionary decisions after prolonged prayer but without consulting anybody. He prayed and then decided alone. Ignatius did not like it and reminded him that before taking a momentous decision, he should pray and consult others, as well.
Relative success
Was Xavier a successful missionary? Yes and no. Numbers and statistics are not the whole story in the spread of Christianity but they do retain some importance. Francis evangelized personally three countries: India, Indonesia and Japan (apart from one or two hurried visits to Sri Lanka). In India, he baptized 10,000 in present-day Kerala but many of them later apostatized and abandoned Christianity probably because of their lack of sacramental life – for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist were administered for the first time, only four or five years after Francis′ departure from the Fishery Coast. Francis, of course, knew not a word of Tamil.
He worked in Indonesia for approximately two years and, in all this time, he apparently made just one solitary adult convert – besides baptizing infants. Here, the main difficulty was the bewildering variety of languages spoken, sometimes with almost every island having its own language or dialect. In spite of his truly heroic efforts and incredible courage when facing ferocious cannibals, he achieved next to nothing, simply defeated by the language barrier.
Numerically, Japan was slightly better, but I find it almost impossible to assess Francis′ personal success for, oftener than not, he was only part of the team of three Jesuit missionaries (two priests and a lay brother). The most successful of the three was undoubtedly Bro. Fernandes, who picked up Japanese rather quickly, whereas Francis didn′t. Perhaps Francis can be credited with 50 or 60 personal conversions, certainly much less than the other two Jesuits working with him. A letter from Japan received in Rome, about this time, mentioned explicitly Bro. Fernandes as an outstanding missionary, not Francis.
Now, at the beginning of the third millennium, we see that the lasting impact of Francis′ efforts is rather limited. Today, India has a Catholic population of approximately 2% of the total. Indonesia is slightly better with about 3% and the Japanese Church ruefully acknowledges that Catholics are only 0.4% of the total population, despite protracted heroic efforts and the blood of a good many martyrs. If it is true that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians," Japan seems to be the exception: the blood of martyrs has not begotten too many Christians.
Lights and shadows
Bright lights and deep shadows kept crisscrossing his life. Probably three reasons can be pointed out to explain, to some extent, Francis′ failures or partial successes: first, the prejudices of the times for which, obviously, Francis cannot be held responsible; second, his temperamental defects, some of them partially traceable to his Basque character, often inclined to a certain individualism and stubbornness; and finally, the scanty theology he picked up at the University of Paris. For Francis, theology seemed to have amounted only to two or two-and-a-half years – a little too scanty even for the less demanding standards of his time.
Francis can be credited for being the first priest to introduce the Christian faith in Indonesia and Japan (though here, along with his two Jesuit companions); but not in India, for the Franciscan Fathers had preceded him by three decades.
In spite of everything, Francis was a saint, a real saint but a very human saint – limited and fallible. The single sentence that aptly summarizes his career is probably the assertion that Francis Xavier was, in many respects, an exceptional missionary but probably a mediocre Superior.
Contemplative person
Three or four features stood out prominently in his life, noticed and repeatedly remarked by his contemporaries. Many people today do not seem to know that Francis, in spite of his ceaseless apostolic activity, had a fairly strong contemplative streak in his character. He worked strenuously – and prayed intensely. Apostolic work and prayer formed an unbreakable unity in him. To depict Francis Xavier as an indefatigable apostle, without any reference to his prayer life, is nothing but an arbitrary distortion of reality.
For instance, during the four months of forced inactivity in the Madras-Mylapore area, when he was trying to discern whether he should venture into Indonesia or not, he used to spend long hours alone, in prayer, usually in the stillness of the night. Later in Malacca, he was spied upon by some curious individuals who saw him at times alone, lost in prayer before a crucifix. His labors in the Fishery Coast offered us a most attractive vignette: Francis by the seashore in Cape Comorin, alone at night, surrounded by coconut trees under the canopy of stars, praying. Japan saw him painfully trudging along with his two Jesuit companions in an interminable journey on foot in a desolate, snow-covered landscape and buffeted by ice-cold Siberian winds – silent and praying.
When traveling back to India from Malacca, the ship, already approaching Sri Lanka, was suddenly caught up in the grip of a fierce storm, the worst Francis had ever experienced in his life. Many of his fellow passengers were scared to death and plainly fighting for life, almost despairing of coming out of the ordeal alive. Somebody went into Xavier′s cabin and, to his amazement, he found him tearfully praying incredible but true!
Unshakable faith
His trustful confidence in God before undertaking a perilous journey was legendary. This was Francis Xavier at his best. His decision to venture into an unknown territory was always based on naked hope and trust in Providence. He clung to God without the admixture of any human help. One can only wonder in amazement before such an incredible attitude of trustful hope.
At Amboina (Indonesia), Francis was told of the famous Moto Islands, inhabited by headhunters and cannibals, treacherous people and expert poisoners. His friends tried to restrain him and prevent his departure or, at least, persuade him to take the appropriate antidotes against poison. Undeterred and with a display of typical Basque stubbornness, he brushed off these objections aside: "I hope to go to an island where they eat their foes I am going there. . .since I have all trust in God."
Exactly the same pattern recurred twice more. Francis had heard of some mysterious island called Japan and, as usual, he was already toying with the idea of conquering it. The first reports were not good: "My friends are appalled by such a long and dangerous journey the pirates are so numerous that it is terrifying. These pirates are extremely cruel,but I do not have the least fear..."
China was no different. The dreamland of the Chinese coast was already tantalizing within reach. As usual, he heard first of the appalling hazards that await those who dared enter the forbidden land, namely the real danger of being abandoned on a deserted island or tortured or thrown into prison. "A far greater danger, however, is to cease to trust and confide in the mercy of God, we are, therefore, determined to go to China."
It was always the same reaction: the greater the dangers ahead, the greater his determination to plunge into them, scorning human prudence and trusting only in God. With regard to his confidence in God, Xavier was simply unshakable.
Kaleidoscope of attitudes
In the process of his canonization, many witnesses testified to his proverbial affability and joy: "Always smiling with a calm and cheerful face, always smiling but never laughing; always smiling because he ever has a deep spiritual joy."
His life resembled a kaleidoscope of quickly-changing patterns and strongly contrasting, even contradictory attitudes. Francis had an extremely rich personality: affectionate, bold, grateful, jovial, prayerful, generous, utterly selfless, loving and lovable – but a very human saint, nevertheless.
That Francis was deeply loved by all was clearly seen, for instance, when his body was transferred from Malacca to Old Goa. Teixeira, his first biographer, who was an eyewitness, narrated that thousands of people, standing on the beach, including the Portuguese viceroy and his royal court, waited for the arrival of his body in Goa. All the bells of the city were joyfully rung and the Franciscan Fathers, putting aside the rubrics of Lent, sang public Masses of joy and gratitude. For four days, without a break till midnight, the crowds thronged the church and reverently kissed those indefatigable feet that had been scorched in the burning sands of Cape Comorin and frozen stiff in the snows of Japan. Such a warm, popular reception was in itself a tangible testimony of appreciation, reverence and love.
In conclusion: an objective appraisal of the saint should be based on the totality of his person, with lights and shadows constantly intersecting his prodigious personality. He certainly does not need our artificial distortions of his character by means of additions or suppressions. In describing the real Francis Xavier, his first biographer said: "God does not need our lies." <WM
POPULAR
DEVOTION TO XAVIER
– The saint is hailed as "Goencho Saib" (the lord of Goa), in Konkani, the local language, by Christians, Hindus and Muslims. He is now the most popular saint in India, as shown by the number of Christian institutions that now bear his name: 35 high schools, 8 parochial churches, 11 houses and centers, 7 colleges and 3 retreat houses. All these, within the limited Indian Jesuit world. There are many more non-Jesuit institutions.
– During the novena preceding his feast in December, eight Masses are celebrated daily in the basilica where his body is still kept, incorrupt. One hears a Babel of languages: Hindi, Tamil, Konkani, Malayalam, Marati. . . Those days, confessions are plentiful and so are the communions. In 2004, as many as 40,000 small hosts were consumed during the novena.
– A huge number of Hindu pilgrims prostrate themselves before the statue of the saint and offer him garlands of flowers or light a candle before the saint′s statue. Then, they reverently kiss the urn where the relics of the saint are kept.
– As for Catholics, many priests like to be ordained there and couples like to have their marriage blessed in that basilica. One sees childless couples asking the saint for the gift of a child. If granted, the child is brought before the saint, asking for his blessing.
– At present, the relics, venerated by thousands, consisted only of two joints of the fourth toe of the right foot of the saint which fell off the body during the solemn exposition of the relics in 1910. But the body itself has largely disintegrated; what remains is dry and dark. But it is the very body of the saint. People of all religions stand in line for hours to kiss the relics.
– During the Novena of Grace (ending on March 12, date of Francis′ canonization), the basilica is packed to capacity, with pilgrims from all over Goa. On that occasion, innumerable Mass intentions are offered (even by Hindus!) on four or five special tables placed near the basilica, often to obtain some miraculous cure. If the request is granted, they will return subsequently with a wax replica of the limb cured as a sign of gratitude.
– Remarkable is the pilgrimage of fishermen, who come with their fishing nets, to be blessed by the saint. Even fishing boats are brought and placed on the spot where Xavier must have first landed in 1542, not far from the basilica.
– A special pilgrimage is organized from the near states of Maharastra and Karnataka, with pilgrims – men, women and children, Catholics, Hindus or Muslims – walking for four days to reach the basilica. <WM
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