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St. Francisco Xavier - his life and times (Part 6) By Dr. Jose Colaco On his return to his headquarters in Goa, he was as dismayed as ever at the level to which the Portuguese and the other elite residents of Old Goa, had sunk. They were quite openly promiscuous, kept concubines, neglected the poor and needy and were cruel to the servants and slaves. Their corrupt ways, greed and exploitation of the poor had reached limits, Fr. Francisco could stomach no more. He saw their behaviour and carryings-on as a betrayal of Christ and of Christianity. Accordingly, in 1545, he wrote to King Joao III of Portugal in the strongest of terms. He reminded the King that God had given these far- flung lands to Portugal not to enrich the treasury of Portugal but to extend the 'kingdom of God'. He admonished him for not punishing these evil, power- hungry and corrupt Portuguese officials. In August of 1545, Fr. Francisco set sail to Malacca in present day Malaysia. He used the same missionary methods he had developed in Goa and perfected in South India. He journeyed from Malacca to the islands of the Pacific rim. It was a series of treacherous sea voyages. The land was not so safe either - not with the head hunters around. But he plodded on with semingly unlimited energy. On one of his journeys in these islands, he is known to have lost his crucifix during a tempest. The distress, which Fr. Francisco experienced, was intense but short-lived, as his crucifix was found the next day - attached to a crab which was coming ashore. For the Jesuit and those with him at the time, it was nothing short of a miracle. He returned to Malacca, where he was introduced to Anjiro, a Japanese man who had sought refuge with the Poruguese and was christened as Paolo. This new convert expressed a strong desire to meet with this Fr. Francisco, a priest all Malacca was talking about. With his moderate knowledge of Portuguese, Paolo impressed him. This was 'a man who wanted to know more about the faith'. A conversation with Paolo led Fr. Francisco to believe that the Japanese might be the most inquiring minds of any of the lands, he had visited thus far. Paolo convinced Fr. Francisco that the Japanese would turn to Christ if they were convinced that Christians practiced what they preached. He made up his mind. He was going to Japan - despite the perilous seas and the piratous Chinese he would meet enroute. He returned to Goa in 1548. A new Viceroy, Dom Joao de Castro was in office. The Portuguese elite and some members of the clergy in the city, still smarting from the stinging comments about them by Fr. Francisco to their King, began a smear campaign against the Jesuit. The Viceroy was advised that Fr. Francisco was a 'meddler' and 'mischief maker', who was 'partial' to his fellow Spaniards. Upon meeting Fr. Francisco, however, Dom Joao realised that he was an honest and religious man who had a gripe against the immorality and corruption among the government officials in Goa. Thereafter, he frequently sought advice and guidance from Fr. Francisco. Fr. Francisco formally took over teaching at the College of the Holy Faith in 1548. This college trained secular priests from all over Asia and the eastern seaboard of Africa. These 'natives of distant lands' travelled back to their homelands to carry on the work of the Church. ( The majority of priests in Goa today are secular. They provide for the flock of Goan Catholics in parishes all over Goa. ) Fr. Francisco's next journey would be to Japan. The evil ways of the Portuguese officials and elite in Old Goa, the perils of the numerous sea journeys to the far flung lands, the complicated politics of the days - some involving the duplicity and cunning of the Portuguese commandants in those lands - the struggles with the poor fisherfolk on either side of the Cabo Camurim, the anxiety over the risks these poor people faced for having converted to the Christian way of life and the horrible massacre of the Mannars by the Hindus must have caused deep anguish to Fr. Francisco. The Paravas, however, resisted all the pressure they faced from the neighbouring peoples. They have remained faithful to Christianity till this day - a fine testimony to the effort of Fr. Francisco. Conversions from Hinduism on the Indian subcontinent have mainly been from the lower classes and castes. It was also a means for the people of the lower castes to escape the unmitigated, unrelenting subjugation to and humiliation by the upper castes. After all, the structure of the caste system ensured that the down- trodden had no hope of overcoming the caste based discrimination - ever. In the 1950s, millions of lower caste Hindus escaped this 'Karma' or 'fate' by converting to Buddhism. November 23, 1996 comments to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Click here for more information on Dr Jose Colaco Photos By William Rodrigues during The Feast Of St. Francis Xavier 4th Dec, 2000 CREDITS Article By Dr Jose Colaco Photos By William Rodrigues Input & Services By Cecil Pinto Presented by Goa-World Team www.goa-world.com (C) Copyrights Reserved