“Of course I’ll accept – I’ll get ready at once. I’ve been praying for years for a chance to be sent to the Indies”
St Francis Xavier (1506-1552) was one of the founding members of the Society of Jesus and an early missionary of the Catholic Church in Asia.
He was a companion of St. Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris in 1534.
At the request of the King of Portugal, Francis was sent by Ignatius to India to serve as a missionary in the Portuguese colonies. This began a ten-year journey that took Francis from India to Malacca (Malaysia), the islands of Malaku (Indonesia) and Japan.
In this time, Francis worked with the sick and needy and braved great personal risk to bring the gospel to some 30,000 people.
His self-sacrifice, enthusiasm and zeal for justice and dignity of all peoples inspires and informs our work.