St Francis Xavier

Francis Xavier was born in Navarre in 1506 and met Ignatius of Loyola as a student in Paris. He was among the first companions who became the Society of Jesus.

He reached Goa in 1542 and used it as a base for a decade of travel. He worked along the Fishery Coast of southern India among the Paravar communities, then in Malacca, the Moluccas and, from 1549, Japan, where he was the first Christian missionary of note.

His methods were practical: learn enough of the language to teach the basics, put the catechism into verse so that it could be sung and remembered, train local catechists, and keep moving. His letters back to Europe are among the most widely read missionary accounts ever written.

He died in 1552 on Shangchuan Island, waiting for permission to enter mainland China. His body was brought to Goa, where it lies in the Basilica of Bom Jesus. It is displayed publicly only at long intervals, an occasion that draws very large crowds from across India, and Goans know him simply as Goencho Saib, the lord of Goa.