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St Francis Xavier was born in Javier, Kingdon of Navarre (present Spain). He was born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta.
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Friends:
- Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi, informally named as Francesco was an Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history. -
Francis was only nine when his father died.
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Xavier went to study at the University of Paris. There he encountered St Ignatius of Loyola who had experienced a religious conversion while recovering from a war wound.
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In the Montmartre section of Paris, Xavier, Loyola and five others pledged themselves to the Society of Jesus. In addition to vows of celibacy and poverty, they also promised to visit the Holy Land.
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While waiting in Venice, Italy, to depart for the Holy Land, Xavier worked in a hospital, aiding those in need. He also became a priest, on June 24, 1537.
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When fighting between Venice and the Ottoman Empire made a trip to Jerusalem impossible, Xavier instead went to Rome, where he and others in the society offered their services to the pope.
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Impressed by the Jesuits, King John III of Portugal asked the order for missionaries to work in his empire. Though Loyola initially selected others for the task, Xavier stepped in when a fellow priest became ill. He left Rome on March 15, 1540.
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Xavier left Lisbon for Portuguese Mozambique.
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Xavier arrived in Goa, India, on May 6, 1542. He came to be admired in that country for his ability to live and work side by side with the poor. Seeking more converts, Xavier continued to travel; his stops included Ceylon, the Molucca Islands, the Banda Islands and the Malay Peninsula.
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Accompanied by several native clerics from the seminary at Goa, he set sail for Cape Comorin in October 1542.
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n the spring of 1545 Xavier started for Portuguese Malacca. He laboured there for the last months of that year.
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Xavier left Malacca for the Malaku 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 other Maluku Islands, including Ternate, Baranura, and Morotai.
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Shortly after Easter 1547, he returned to Ambon Island.
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A few months after returning to Ambon Island, Xavier sets sail for Malacca.
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In Malacca in December 1547, Francis Xavier met a Japanese man named Anjirō. 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 of 'Paulo de Santa Fe'.
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In January 1548 Francis returned to Goa to attend to his responsibilities as superior of the mission there
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The next 15 months were occupied with various journeys and administrative measures. He left Goa on 15 April 1549, stopped at Malacca, and visited Canton. He was accompanied by Anjiro, two other Japanese men, Father Cosme de Torrès, and Brother João Fernandes. He had taken with him presents for the "King of Japan" since he was intending to introduce himself as the Apostolic Nuncio.
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Francis Xavier reached Japan on 27 July 1549, with Anjiro and three other Jesuits, but he was not permitted to enter any port his ship arrived at[36] until 15 August, when he went ashore at Kagoshima, the principal port of Satsuma Province on the island of Kyūshū.
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On August 15, 1549, Xavier landed at Kagoshima, Japan. As he had at his other missions, Xavier adapted to local mores and arranged for the translation of religious texts. These steps helped him reach more converts in the year and a half he spent in Japan.
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Shimazu Takahisa, daimyō of Satsuma, gave a friendly reception to Francis on 29 September 1549
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During his trip, a tempest forced him to stop on an island near Guangzhou, China where he met Diogo Pereira, a rich merchant and an old friend from Cochin. Pereira showed him a letter from Portuguese prisoners in Guangzhou, asking for a Portuguese ambassador to speak to the Chinese Emperor on their behalf.
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Later during the voyage, he stopped at Malacca on 27 December 1551.
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On 17 April he set sail with Diogo Pereira on the Santa Cruz for China.
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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, 200 km south-west of what later became Hong Kong.
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Xavier's next focus for missionary work was China. He travelled to Sancian (Shangchuan) Island, near Canton, but was not able to access the mainland because borders had been closed to foreigners. Before he could find a way inside the country, illness incapacitated Xavier. He died on the island on December 3, 1552, at the age of 46. His body was then taken to Goa.
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He died at Shangchuan, Taishan, China from a fever on 3 December 1552, while he was waiting for a boat that would take him to mainland China.
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After dying Xavier's body was taken to Goa, India
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Xavier was beatified by Pope Paul V
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Xavier was canonised by Pope Gregory XV in 1622.