Zhong Wen: The Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier was once described this way: If the founder of the Society of Jesus was an “untiring traveler,” then Xavier was an “undaunted navigator.” He was among the earliest missionaries to come to the East and was one of the founders of the Jesuit order. The Catholic Church has called him “the greatest missionary in history” and “the patron saint of missionaries.”

Xavier was born into a noble family in Spain and studied at the University of Paris. In 1540, he set out to spread the Gospel in the East. He arrived in Southeast Asia in 1542, in Japan in 1549, and reached China in 1551, but due to the Ming dynasty’s maritime prohibition, he never entered the Chinese mainland and died on an offshore island. He was only 46. Later, he was buried in India, and in 1662 the Church canonized him. His burial site became a popular pilgrimage destination. In the modern history of the Church, no messenger of the Gospel has influenced missionary work as profoundly as he did.

Bo Ya: Francis Xavier, the pioneer who opened the way for Western missionaries entering East Asia—clearly a man who failed in his mission—why is he still respected by believers?

This may have to do with his “incorrupt body”—

December 3, 2020, was the Feast of St. Francis Xavier. In previous years, tens of thousands of believers would travel to the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, India, where the saint’s body is kept, to make their pilgrimage. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, large gatherings were not possible. Thus, the celebration that year was broadcast online and on television; aside from lectors and altar servers, no other faithful were present. According to the Fides News Agency, this was the first livestreamed feast celebration in over 400 years, allowing people worldwide to see the saint’s remains online.

Francis Xavier was born in 1506 in what is now the Navarre region of northern Spain. He was ordained in 1537 and appointed in 1540 as one of the first Jesuit missionaries. Beginning in 1542, he evangelized in Southeast Asia, traveling to India, Singapore, Malacca, Japan, and other places. He later sought to enter China and reached Shangchuan Island (now in Taishan, Guangdong) in 1552. There he contracted malaria and died on December 3, at age 46.

At first, Xavier’s body was buried on Shangchuan Island. On February 17, 1553, when the ship Santa Cruz was ready to take his remains away, the coffin was opened, and the body was found lifelike, uncorrupted, and exuding fragrance. On December 11 of that year, the remains arrived in Goa, where they have been kept ever since in the Basilica of Bom Jesus.

Zhong Wen: Xavier’s importance also lies in his relationship with Ignatius of Loyola, the initiator of the Jesuit order. In 1528, Loyola, then an excellent student, entered the University of Paris. While there, he and six devout friends—including Xavier—formed a student association and became very close. In 1534, facing the challenges posed by the Protestant Reformation, Loyola and the six others publicly announced the founding of the Society of Jesus at a church near the University of Paris, opposing the Reformation.

They clearly understood that the existing Roman Curia had grown corrupt and numb; if Catholicism did not reform itself, it would be entirely overtaken by Protestantism. They sought to eliminate “the laziness of bishops, the indifference of the secular clergy, and the ritualistic formalism” within the Church—conducting a “thorough reform” of Catholicism. In 1540, Pope Paul III formally approved the Jesuit order.

The Jesuits were regarded as a military-like organization of believers, and its first leader was Loyola. Having been a soldier, he understood well the advantages of military structure. In the face of Catholic decline, he shaped the Jesuits accordingly. In his words: “(Members) must obey their superiors unconditionally, obey their guides, for no other reason than that God commands you to do so,” and, “If the Society (the Jesuits) says that white is black, then we must declare white to be black.” Thus, Goodban writes in China in World History that the Jesuits were “like an army, with the head called the General, and members obeying unconditionally.”

With this military model, the Jesuits gained extraordinary organizational power and quickly became the most vigorous branch of Catholicism. Although many Jesuits were Spaniards, their financial supporters were the Portuguese.

To save the Catholic Church, the Jesuits adopted the strategy of compensating overseas for what was lost in Europe—entering non-Catholic regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas first, hoping to regain in overseas conversions what Catholicism had lost in Europe. Hence, overseas evangelization became their unshakable pursuit. It was in this religious fervor that Xavier, one of the founding elders, set out.

Bo Ya: If we observe Xavier, Ricci, and others through the lens of the “military-structured Jesuit order,” their words and conduct become easy to understand—“(Members) must obey their superiors unconditionally… If the Society says that white is black, then we say so.” It strongly resembles the Cultural Revolution slogan: “Carry out orders whether you understand them or not… and gain understanding through execution.”

Zhong Wen: Xavier, a Spaniard, boarded a ship to the East in 1541 with hopes of evangelizing. This was less than half a century after the Age of Discovery. By mid-1542, he reached India and then traveled to Malacca, lingering there for some time. At first, he had no clear destination until he met a Japanese drifter named Yajirō in Malacca.

Yajirō was from Satsuma in Kyushu. After committing murder in Japan, he fled abroad on a Portuguese ship. During his time on these ships, he learned some Portuguese, enabling basic communication with Xavier. After extensive conversations, the two men became sworn friends. Yajirō taught Xavier Japanese and introduced him to the East. On January 20, 1548, Xavier first acquired a clear goal—Japan.

On August 15, Xavier’s group arrived in Satsuma, where the local lord Shimazu Takahisa received them, with Yajirō acting as interpreter. Yajirō displayed statues of the Virgin Mary and other religious items. Shimazu, eager for profitable trade and Western firearms, warmly approved their missionary request. At first, the Japanese misunderstood Christianity, believing the Jesuits were a new Buddhist sect, and thus did not strongly resist; neither did traditional religious authorities. But once they discovered it was a foreign religion, Buddhist monks and believers exerted great pressure, leading Shimazu to adopt anti-Christian measures.

After meeting obstacles in Satsuma, Xavier adjusted his strategy. Realizing the strength of traditional religious forces but also perceiving the commercial ambitions of coastal warlords in Japan’s chaotic Sengoku era, he turned to evangelizing through commerce.

He moved to Hirado, a traditional port (now in Nagasaki). Hirado’s ruler was Matsura Takanobu, collaborator of the mid-Ming Chinese pirate leader Wang Zhi. Hirado prospered as a base for storing and selling loot from Wokou raids. Matsura cared little for rules—if trade brought profit, he welcomed it.

Professor Kono Juntoku, a Japanese scholar of Xavier, said Xavier in Hirado was not only a scholar and priest but also a merchant employed by the king of the most powerful commercial empire of the time—Portugal. As such, he was warmly received by Matsura.

Through Xavier’s efforts, Japan bought Portuguese muskets; Portugal sold Japanese sulfur to China and Southeast Asia; and Portuguese merchants purchased Chinese silk, tea, and porcelain for trade elsewhere. This formed a triangular trade network across the East and South China Seas—known in Japan as the “black ship trade.”

But just as Xavier’s mission began to progress, trouble arose again from Satsuma. Though Matsura remained respectful, neighboring clans—Arima, Ōmura, Ryūzōji—and Buddhist groups launched a joint anti-Christian movement. Under military pressure, Matsura had no choice but to abandon Xavier.

This failure convinced Xavier that relying on warlords was impossible. He then traveled to Kyoto, but the emperor’s political impotence dashed his hopes for evangelizing through the upper class. In November 1551, he left Japan for India. After this failure, his attention turned to China—the suzerain of the East. Many Japanese had asked him, “If Christianity is so good, why don’t the Chinese believe it?” Thus he believed that if China converted, its tributary states, including Japan, would surely follow.

So in 1552 he sailed to the waters of Guangdong, intending to enter secretly. But China’s strict maritime defenses blocked him. He was stranded on Shangchuan Island and died there in December.

Bo Ya: Xavier is a tragic figure. That is why the Church calls him the “Apostle of the East” and “Patron of Missionaries” and canonized him as a saint in 1662.

With his life, Xavier established several principles for successors:

Evangelizing through trade—later missionaries to Japan succeeded in converting Kyushu lords who wanted overseas trade, such as the Ōtomo and Arima clans; at one point Nagasaki was even given to the Church.

Not relying solely on the upper class—missionaries began entering rural areas, caring for common people.

China as the core of East Asian evangelization—because many Asians resisted by saying, “China doesn’t believe—why should we?” Thus Jesuits focused heavily on converting China, which drove the efforts of Valignano, Ruggieri, Ricci, Verbiest, Schall von Bell, and others.

Zhong Wen: Xavier’s story is indeed moving. During his final moments, he longed to enter China. On August 1552, he reached the anchorage off Shangchuan Island aboard the Santa Cruz. Several Portuguese ships were already there. Due to Chinese maritime prohibitions, Portuguese traders could only trade through smugglers. Chinese junks arriving at the island brought goods from the mainland and took back goods hidden by the Portuguese.

As Xavier wrote on July 21, 1552, his companion Father Álvaro Ferreira, a young noble who joined the Jesuits in 1548, traveled with him and studied Japanese. After reaching Shangchuan Island, Ferreira became fearful and discouraged; Xavier expelled him and sent him back to Goa. Xavier had two servants: Cristóvão from Malabar (India) and António, a young Chinese man educated for years at St. Paul’s College in Goa.

Portuguese ships gradually departed after completing their trade, leaving only the Santa Cruz anchored until late November. The Chinese guide Xavier had been waiting for never appeared. Entry into Guangdong was hopeless.

In late November, Xavier suddenly developed a high fever, likely pleurisy. He lacked food, clothing, and shelter and lived in a simple straw hut.

On November 22 he tried to stay on the Santa Cruz, but the violent rocking made it unbearable, so he returned to shore the next day. A compassionate Portuguese man took him into his hut and attempted bloodletting—a botched procedure that caused fainting. Xavier’s fever worsened, and he could no longer eat.

By November 24, he began speaking deliriously in a language António did not understand—likely Basque, his childhood tongue. At his side were the two servants, a mulatto attendant, and a Portuguese man named Francisco Sanches.

The day before his death, Xavier looked sympathetically at Cristóvão and said three times, “Alas for you!” António later recalled that Xavier “lifted his eyes to heaven, serene and smiling. He spoke loudly to Our Lord in every language he knew. I heard him repeat again and again: ‘Jesus, Filii David, miserere mei; tu autem meorum peccatorum miserere!’”

He remained this way until the eighth day of his illness, November 28. On that day, he could no longer utter a single word… This continued for another three days, until Thursday, when he could no longer recognize anyone, nor take any food. Later, he was once again able to speak and regained his awareness, but all I heard from him were praises of the Holy Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—with deep devotion. He also repeated the prayers he used to recite: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Most holy Virgin, Mother of God, always remember me!” He continued murmuring these invocations until Friday night. Shortly before dawn, as he was near death, I lit a blessed candle and placed it in his hand. He uttered the holy name of Jesus, and in perfect peace, he surrendered his soul to his Creator—God. He passed away on Saturday, December 3, 1552, ten years after arriving in India, in a small hut on Shangchuan Island—a hut that was not even his.

There has long been controversy in Church history about the exact date of Xavier’s death. According to the translator Fr. Mei Chengji of Fei Lai’s Biographies of the Jesuits in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1552–1773): “Until the late 19th century, although discrepancies existed, people generally followed the Roman Breviary’s date of December 2. Later, November 27 was suggested; however, it is now widely accepted that the Chinese Christian Anthony’s account—that Xavier died sometime between the night of December 2 and the early morning of December 3—is the most accurate.”

When Xavier was dying, most of the Portuguese from the ship Santa Cruz—except one or two—stayed aboard using cold weather as an excuse, showing complete indifference to his condition. After his death, only one man came to help Anthony, along with two mestiço youths who assisted with the burial. They dressed Xavier’s body in the vestments he had worn when celebrating Mass and placed him in a wooden coffin. They put four bags of lime inside—two above the body and two below—hoping to accelerate the separation of flesh from bone so that his remains could be transported to Goa as soon as possible. They then lowered the coffin into the grave and covered it with earth. They already knew this burial was temporary, for Xavier had expressed his wish that his remains ultimately rest in Goa. Although Xavier had only spent a few months in Goa, he once said, “I will not return to Goa myself, but I hope my body will remain there.”

Bo Ya: Poor Xavier—so he turned out to be a bullied Basque minority! This ancient people, who lived in Europe even before the Indo-European migrations, must have felt liberated in the East!

Zhong Wen: The story isn’t over—

On February 17, 1553, when the Portuguese carrack Santa Cruz, bearing Xavier’s remains, was preparing to sail for Malacca, the faithful Anthony asked the captain: “Captain, Father Francis was a saint. His body lies buried here—what shall we do with it?” The captain replied: “Anthony, I know he truly was a saint. I cannot decide yet whether the body can be transported. I will send men to examine it, and if possible, we will take it.”

Several Portuguese went to the burial site. When they opened the grave and coffin, they were astonished to find the body completely incorrupt—“except for the lime, there was neither stench nor decay.” One man hurriedly cut a small piece of flesh from the body to show the captain. The captain ordered that the coffin be brought aboard, hoping that the ship’s movement would hasten the lime’s effect in separating the flesh from the bones. On February 17, the ship set sail for India.

Xavier’s Chinese servant, Anthony, also traveled on this ship, accompanying the remains all the way to Malacca. He later went with the missionary Beira to the island of Moro in the Moluccas. In 1556 he returned to India, and from 1557 to 1560 he taught catechumens in Goa. In his later years he returned to Macau, where in 1578 he was received by Father Valignano, who praised him as a “good and upright old Christian.” Anthony then lived at the Jesuit residence in Macau for the rest of his life. It is easy to imagine that he led later missionaries to Shangchuan Island to venerate the place of Xavier’s death.

The grave where Xavier had been buried for two and a half months later became a pilgrimage site for Jesuits working in China. In 1553, the priest Pierre de Alcazova, returning from Japan, visited Shangchuan Island and prayed devoutly before the grave. In 1565, eight Jesuits and their superior, Father Perez, arrived in Macau and built a residence there, which later served as a convalescent home for missionaries in Japan. In 1639, the fathers in Macau erected a stone monument at the grave, one inscription reading: “Here once lay the body of the Apostle of the East, St. Francis Xavier of the Society of Jesus.” Later, villagers toppled the stone, believing treasure was buried beneath. In 1688, Father Philippe Carossi, passing through, restored it to its proper place. In 1700, Fathers Charles Turcotti and Jean Laureati obtained permission from the Governor-General of Guangdong to build a small residence 4 km from the grave, and they erected a small chapel over the burial site. The chapel’s stone altar was a square 3.45 meters on each side, with a cross standing above it.

In 1813, Bishop Francisco Chacim of Macau, together with local faithful, made a pilgrimage to Shangchuan Island. The 1639 tombstone still existed, but the small chapel had collapsed due to neglect during the period of persecution. In 1869, through the efforts of Mgr. Guillemin of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, a Gothic chapel was built over Xavier’s grave. It was 20 meters long, 10 meters wide, with a bell tower 24 meters high, and Empress Eugénie of France donated a beautiful bronze bell. Soon afterward, a large granite cross and a bronze statue of Xavier were erected on two neighboring hilltops of the island.

On March 22, 1553, when the Santa Cruz, carrying Xavier’s remains, arrived in Malacca, hundreds of people gathered at the harbor. Among them was shipowner and Xavier’s longtime friend Diogo Pereira. Pereira had lived in Goa for many years—he was a well-known and wealthy merchant. He sailed to Siam in 1548 and to China in 1551. In 1552, he had planned to accompany Xavier as an envoy to China but was prevented by the governor of Malacca, Álvaro Ataíde.

People moved the body to the local church of Our Lady of the Mount, a place where Francis Xavier had often preached in the past. It is said that the coffin was not carried into the church; according to local custom, the body was placed in a tomb near the church’s high altar, and a simple funeral was held there. Because people lifted Xavier’s head above his chest to place the body more easily into the tomb, his neck was broken, causing the head to appear even more bent. At the same time, the chasuble that wrapped Xavier’s body sank down, dragging on the ground and filling the entire tomb, which caused further damage to the body. These damages were repeatedly noted in later medical examinations of the remains.

On August 15 of the same year, at the repeated request of Xavier’s successor in Malacca, Father Juan de Beira, the body was exhumed, for everyone felt that it deserved a more honorable burial. Meanwhile, the Church in Goa insisted that Xavier belonged to Goa. As a result, Pereira secretly brought the body back to his own residence, covering it with a splendid linen cloth—one of the gifts Xavier had earlier planned to present to the Emperor of China when he went as a papal and royal envoy. The body was then placed into a new coffin. On December 11, 1553, with the help of Xavier’s old friend Diogo Fernandes, they moved the body onto a ship belonging to Lopo de Noronha, a captain from Goa, placing it in a cabin lit with candles and incense. The ship returned to Goa on March 16, 1554.

When the vessel reached Cochin, Captain Noronha personally rowed a small boat ashore to inform the Jesuit provincial in Goa, Melchior Nunes Barreto, who immediately notified the governor, Afonso de Noronha. The governor ordered a splendid warship to greet Xavier’s remains and bring them back to the city of Goa; the provincial also sent four boys from St. Paul’s College to accompany the body back. As described in Romeiro’s book Goa – Rome of the East: the governor’s warship was magnificently decorated. When it met Noronha’s ship at Baticala, all the priests and boys sang Gloria in excelsis. They came onto the deck and transferred Xavier’s coffin to the governor’s warship, while all the ships anchored in the harbor fired their cannons in salute.

As the ship passed Cape Cobo, the coffin was placed on the bow, covered by a canopy embroidered with gold thread. When the ship approached Goa, cannons roared from the Fort of the Three Kings, and all the warships anchored along the Mandovi River—from the river mouth to the inner harbor—fired salutes. Xavier’s remains returned triumphantly along the Goan waters, a stark contrast to his humble and unnoticed arrival twelve years earlier.

Men, women, and children crowded together, praying and weeping. No governor had ever received a welcome as grand as that given to this saint lying in the coffin.

The next day, August 15, 1554, a flotilla of eight elaborately decorated ceremonial boats escorted the ship carrying Xavier’s coffin upriver to Ribandar. The governor stood waiting at the pier, surrounded by all naval and army officers. Crowds lined both sides of the road leading from the pier to the church of St. Paul’s College. At the front of the procession were ninety boys from St. Paul’s College, all wearing white albs, holding candles, and singing hymns as Xavier’s remains were carried forward.

The governor walked immediately behind the coffin, followed by others. That day, all churches and official buildings were hung with flags, banners, and standards. People threw flowers from windows. Xavier’s remains were displayed publicly in St. Paul’s Church for three days, and crowds flooded the church to pay their last respects—so many that the archbishop and the provincial had to keep the church open day and night. Although it was Holy Week, all altars were lavishly decorated, and the sound of church bells filled the air without interruption. Everyone wanted to kiss Xavier’s hands and feet or touch him with rosaries or reliquaries. Pagans and Muslims also mingled in the crowds, expressing their reverence for him and calling him “Father” or “Saint,” just as Christians did. Jesuit provincial Barreto wrote: “I saw with my own eyes people touching the saint’s body, covered with lime yet giving off a pleasant fragrance. If I had not seen it myself, I would never have believed it.”

On the third day after the arrival of the body in Goa, March 17, 1554, Governor Noronha ordered his personal physician and a leading medical authority in Goa, Dr. Cosmas Saraiva, along with the dean Dr. Ambrósio Ribeiro, to conduct a medical examination. When Xavier’s body had been placed in the coffin on Shangchuan Island and later at Malacca, fresh blood had been observed seeping out three times. During Dr. Saraiva’s examination, two Jesuits pressed firmly on a wound near Xavier’s heart—blood flowed out, staining their fingers.

For some time after the body was returned to Goa, it was kept in the small chapel of St. Paul’s College. Xavier had cared deeply for the students of the college and considered himself a member of the community until his death.

In 1605, the Basilica of Bom Jesus—soon to become the most important and famous Jesuit church in all of South Asia and the East—was completed, and the Jesuits decided to move Xavier’s remains there. In fact, even before the basilica was built, Jesuits in Goa had heard rumors that Xavier would soon be canonized. In 1624, they began transferring the body, first placing it in the Chapel of St. Francis Borgia within the basilica, and then moving it to the present Chapel of St. Francis Xavier in 1655. After Pope Gregory XV canonized Xavier on March 12, 1622, declaring him a saint and the “Apostle of India,” the body was publicly displayed almost every year on the anniversary of his death. But later, the Jesuit fathers noticed that the body was deteriorating more rapidly, and they discontinued the annual public exhibition.

On November 3, 1614, and April 27, 1619, Pope Paul V (reigned 1605–1621) instructed the Jesuit Superior General at the time, Claudio Acquaviva, to order that St. Francis Xavier’s right arm be cut into two pieces. The forearm, removed in the first cutting, was sent to the Jesuit mother church in Rome (the Church of the Gesù) for public veneration; the upper arm, taken in the second cutting, was sent to the Jesuit province in Japan. Xavier’s shoulder blade was cut into three parts and sent respectively to Cochin, Malacca, and Macau. When the Dutch later captured Cochin and Malacca, the first two fragments were lost, but the Macau fragment is still preserved today in the Church of St. Joseph’s Seminary.

In 1636, the Jesuits in Goa removed Xavier’s internal organs and distributed them to Catholic communities across the world. However, according to Jesuit writer Joseph Simon-Bayard, as late as around 1654 “the entire body appeared almost like that of a living person,” so much so that a Dutch East India Company officer, Mynheer Vandryers, who had come to view the relics, was astonished and immediately converted to Roman Catholicism.

The Jesuits built a special chapel and tomb for St. Francis Xavier at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa. At the center of the chapel stands Xavier’s magnificent sarcophagus. According to the author of Oriente Conquistado, the marble base of the tomb was commissioned and donated by Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1670–1723), a devoted admirer of Xavier and a member of the Medici family. Earlier, the Jesuit provincial in India, Father Francisco Sarmento, had given Cosimo a pillow long used by Xavier; in return, Cosimo donated the marble tomb.

The tomb’s marble base was designed by Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652–1737), a renowned Florentine late-Baroque artist, a student of the great Baroque architect and sculptor Bernini (1598–1680). In 1680 Foggini supervised the carving of the decorative panels, whose monumental beauty won great praise. The work was displayed for two years at San Lorenzo in Florence, where the duke had intended it to be placed. In 1697 it was transported to Goa by two escorts and installed in its current location.

There are four bronze panels on the base, each depicting an important moment in Xavier’s life. Seen from the front one can view only the western panel; the others are on the sides and back:

North panel: Xavier preaching to the natives of the Moluccas. Inscription: Ut vitam habeant (“That they may have life”).

West panel: Xavier baptizing a group of Moluccans while holding a crucifix. Inscription: Nox inimica fugata (“The hostile night is put to flight”).

South panel: Xavier hastily crosses a river on a raft while furious Moors pursue him with arrows and stones. Inscription: Nil horum vereor (“I fear none of these”).

East panel: Xavier’s death on Sancian Island, China. He embraces a crucifix and lies barefoot on a straw mat inside a hut, accompanied by his two disciples, Anthony and Christopher. Inscription: Maior in occasu (“Greater in the setting”).

Some argue that the wooden railings around the base should be removed so the bronze reliefs can be better admired. Art historians note that the panels clearly reflect the Florentine sculptural tradition and show similarities to the famed “Gates of Paradise” of Florence’s Baptistery. This demonstrates the fusion of Roman and Florentine Baroque traditions in the art of the Basilica of Bom Jesus.

The silver casket containing Xavier’s remains was designed by the Italian Jesuit Marcello Mastrilli, himself a missionary to the East who was martyred in Nagasaki in 1637. The casket is 6.3 feet long, 2.1 feet wide, and 1.2 feet high—though some say it is made of lead. The top features carved decorations with curved patterns. A beautiful 2.1-foot-high cross stands atop it, flanked by two winged angels: the one near Xavier’s head holds a radiant heart; the one near his feet holds a plaque bearing Xavier’s motto: “Satis est, Domine, satis est!” (“It is enough, Lord, it is enough!”), expressing his overwhelming love for God.

The silver casket was crafted between 1635 and 1641 by a Goan goldsmith of exceptional skill. Each side is framed with Corinthian miniature columns and inset with transparent glass panels through which Xavier’s shrunken face can be seen. The entire exterior is decorated with intricate vegetal motifs—abundant flowers, fruits, and grain—symbolizing life’s renewal and Xavier’s resurrection. The interior is lined with velvet and adorned with colorful gemstones. There are also many silver pinecones of various sizes, each set with luminous gems. Both the pinecones and the wheat motifs symbolize rebirth.

A yellow floral cloth with 124 star-cut gemstones covers the inside of the casket. At both ends of this cloth are six gold tassel-shaped pouches filled with ambergris; one has since disappeared.

In earlier times the silver casket contained many valuable ornaments, but after the expulsion of the Jesuits from Goa, authorities removed these items and sent them to the mint, replacing them with 473 gemstones—many of which scholars believe are fake. Inside the casket is another coffin, 5.1 feet long and 1.5 feet wide, with three keys. A thin veil woven with multicolored flowers remains preserved in its original brightness.

Xavier’s body remains intact but has shrunk to 4.1 feet in length. After the public exposition of 1859, Goa’s chief surgeons examined the body and issued a report: patches of scalp and sparse hair remain on the right side of the skull; the left side is bare. The face is covered by a dark gray layer that has cracked on the right, exposing the upper jawbone. These conditions correspond to injuries noted in an earlier report from January 1, 1782. All front teeth are present except for one lower incisor. Both ears remain intact, but the right arm is missing. The left hand, including fingernails, is complete, as noted in the 1782 report. The abdomen is covered by dried dark tissue; the body cavity contains no organs. The feet are also dark and dried, with the tendons clearly visible; the fourth and fifth toes of the right foot are missing. The skin on the feet and one exposed toe bone have a spongy elasticity.

Xavier’s body is dressed in an exquisite sleeveless chasuble embroidered with intricate designs and large pearls of great value. This vestment was a gift in 1693 from Queen Maria Sophia Elisabeth of Neuburg (1666–1699), consort of King Pedro II of Portugal (reigned 1683–1706). His head is uncovered. According to Oriente Conquistado, Xavier’s own flat cap had earlier been presented to Queen Sophia, who wore it during her retreats and fasts. She embroidered her coat of arms and an inscription on the chasuble: “Suo S. Xaverio Maria Sophia Regina Portugalis.”

To Xavier’s right lies a staff set with 194 emeralds, and near his feet is a large golden shield bearing the Portuguese coat of arms, inscribed: “D. Francisco Xav. Indiarum Apost. et in Orient. Defensore recens assump. duc. An. D. M. MDCXCIX.” The reverse bears the portrait of King Pedro II with the inscription: “Petrus, Rex Portugalis.”

Bo Ya: Xavier called Jesus “the son of David,” yet he did not know the very words Jesus Himself said in the Bible: “The Christ is the Lord of David.” This shows that he actually lacked understanding of “the mystery of Christ,” and therefore fell into the path of idolatry. This is not merely his problem, but the problem of the entire Catholic Church. Look at the pathological fanaticism displayed in the above story—how much it resembles the zombie-like idol worship in Communist countries!

Zhong Wen: Wait, there’s more! In the early period after Xavier’s body was brought to Goa, the Jesuits in charge frequently displayed the body to the public. According to the British traveler Dr. Fryer, who visited in 1675, the body was exposed every year and remained fresh as before. The exposition was usually arranged on the saint’s feast day, and the clergy held magnificent and solemn ceremonies. He described the scene of that day as follows: When we sailed upriver, we saw Goa. The belfry of the Jesuit church was illuminated at night with lamps that rivaled the stars in both number and brilliance.

Twenty years later, another traveler, Gemelli Careri, visited Goa. He found that for the previous nine years the residents of Goa had stopped publicly viewing Xavier’s body every year. He wrote: After the Pope ordered one of the saint’s arms to be cut off, the rest of the body began to decay. It seemed as though the saint himself was displeased by this. Therefore, for the past nine years the Jesuits no longer displayed the body annually; only the governor and other dignitaries were allowed to see it. I pleaded with the governor to use his authority to allow me to see Xavier’s remains, and one morning I finally beheld the sacred body.

In fact, the accounts of the two travelers are not entirely accurate. The Jesuits did not refuse to let the public venerate the relics; they simply no longer displayed it as frequently as before. Nor did the body begin to decay only after the Pope ordered the removal of the arm. If that had been the case, people would certainly have taken precautions, and the body would not have been exhibited so often. The real reason for reducing public displays was this: because the crowds were excessively eager to obtain a piece of the relics, their actions might harm the body. Thus the Jesuits later allowed only high-ranking individuals to view it privately. But even this privilege was later revoked. On April 2, 1755, the King of Portugal wrote to the authorities of Goa, forbidding such practices. Excessive zeal from these viewers may also have caused damage to the remains. From that time forward, without the explicit permission of the Portuguese government, the body could not be displayed publicly. During the next century, the body was publicly shown only twice: in 1782 and in 1859. Little is known about the earlier display, but the latter was recorded extensively.

The Archaeological History of the City of Goa records it as follows:

The public exposition of Xavier’s body in 1859 began on December 3, the solemn and splendid feast of the saint. For many days afterward, so many people gathered—yearning to kiss the feet of the great apostle—that the Basilica of Bom Jesus had to remain open day and night. Pilgrims came from every corner of the country, continuously and in increasing numbers. Authorities had to prolong the exposition by more than a week. Even so, many left disappointed, unable to kiss the saint’s feet or even catch a glimpse of him. It is estimated that two hundred thousand people of different ethnicities and religions came from all over India to venerate the apostle. During this period, old Goa seemed to rise from ruins, full of life and splendor, restored to its former glory when it had been the commercial center of Eastern trade. Every day, thousands of small images of the saint were sold at astonishing speed. It is said that some Hindus, hearing of the saint’s miracles, decided to convert to Christianity; many Christians suffering from long illness recovered after venerating the saint. The healing miracles caused such a sensation that several skilled physicians investigated, and unanimously declared that the cures must have been due to supernatural causes. The public exposition ended officially on January 8 of the following year, with the cannons of all major forts of Goa firing thunderous salutes, and the bells of every church ringing.

The most recent notable record of the viewing of Xavier’s body comes from 1952. On February 28 of that year, Fr. Rémy personally witnessed the relics:

The body of Xavier was clothed in a gold-embroidered chasuble adorned with pearls. It had been sewn and embroidered by 16th-century Franciscan nuns in the convent of Caranzalem. The present Franciscan nuns had also made a stole placed on the saint’s left arm, which was folded across his chest. I noticed that the saint’s fingers were bent, as if grasping something. I could clearly see the skin on the saint’s legs, shriveled and dry. His feet were wrinkled from dryness. I also saw Xavier’s face—the mouth half open, revealing two very white teeth. The skin on the left side of his face below the skull had entirely disappeared. Where the right arm had been removed lay a Malaccan white rattan staff with a silver tip.

That staff too has an unusual history. In 1683, Sambhaji, leader of the Maratha forces, attacked Goa with twenty thousand men. The governor of Goa, Francisco de Távora, had only a few thousand troops. On the eve of battle, the governor placed his official staff (the white rattan staff) and his royal commission inside Xavier’s tomb. Soon afterward the Maratha army withdrew without a fight—although the real reason was the Mughal invasion of their homeland, the Portuguese of Goa preferred to credit Xavier’s protection for their city’s salvation. Thereafter every governor, prior to leaving office, would place his staff in Xavier’s coffin; when a new governor arrived, after presenting his credentials to the municipal hall, he went to the Basilica of Bom Jesus to receive the staff from the archbishop. This became a tradition.

After describing the relics, Fr. Rémy continued:

I personally hope the three keys will not be frequently used. The 1878 and 1922 inspection reports show that mass pilgrimages caused significant damage to the relics—both Christians and non-Christians were responsible. During the exposition from November 3, 1859 to January 6, 1860, over 170,000 pilgrims kissed the feet of the relic, and it is easy to understand that such pressure could not be endured. Even if their devotion was less extreme than that of Mrs. Caromile, the relic could not be subjected to such prolonged contact. The new method is much better: pilgrims may view the relics through the glass coffin, praying silently, without direct contact.

I also saw a wooden box inlaid with silver filigree, containing Xavier’s portable altar and a chasuble. I also saw an old Christian catechism written in Konkani. It was printed in 1616 at Rachol, written by Fr. Thomas Stephens. He followed in Xavier’s footsteps, departing Lisbon for India on April 4, 1579, and is the first known Englishman to set foot on the western coast of India.

In 2006, on the 500th anniversary of Xavier’s birth, an author in Time Magazine asked: “Francis Xavier’s mission failed—so why do tens of thousands still flock to Goa to see his remains?” The renowned Indian church historian George Menachery responded: The only answer is Time Magazine’s own description of Xavier—as a “missionary, explorer, and hero.” As a figure of the 16th-century Age of Discovery, Xavier inevitably carried the limitations of his time. But as a Jesuit missionary, he was able to relinquish the self and follow the will of the Lord completely. As Ignatius of Loyola said in the Spiritual Exercises: “Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will… Give me only Thy love and Thy grace; that is enough for me.”

Bo Ya: Poor Xavier—bullied by the Spanish and Portuguese during his life, and even after death exploited by the Church for exhibition and profit, and mutilated by popes. Truly he met the wrong people and cannot rest in peace.

Zhong Wen: According to the article “An Attempt at Medical Research on the History of Xavier” by Figueiredo, on March 22, 1553, the governor of Malacca, Ataide, awaited Xavier’s body with vengeful intent. At the door of the sacristy of the Church of Our Lady of Odelia, he dug a very small grave in order to be able to “better” tamp down the soil with his foot. Xavier’s body was taken from the coffin and forced into the grave. The force applied was so great that Xavier’s neck was twisted, and “fresh blood flowed as if from living veins.” When covering the grave, they stomped the soil down vigorously.

Five months passed. On the night of August 15, the grave was opened again. Xavier’s corpse and the vestments remained intact and uncorrupted. Only the white cloth covering his face and the pillow beneath his head were “soaked with blood.” Because the grave was so small, it is no wonder that the body, like any poor soul, could not lie fully flat. Such placement inevitably bent the neck and forced the thighs, legs, and feet into unnatural positions. After the second opening of the grave, it was found that the twisted neck had bled, the nose had been “flattened,” and the right rib was broken.

During the examination of January 21, 1951, three cervical vertebrae were found missing, the nasal bone dislocated backward, and the right heel bone dislocated inward. These findings show the body had been interred lying on its left side. Sousa wrote: “The wound on the left side was caused by a sharp stone driven in by the pounding of the soil with wooden mallets.” The wound may have been on the right side of the face, not the torso, because the vestments were unscathed. Mendes Pinto reported that “the vestments were as fresh as though newly made.” The record of January 1, 1782, indeed notes that although the face had lost its flesh, it was still covered with skin, “except for one bruise on the right side.” The medical report of 1850 adds: “The entire face is covered by dry, darkened skin; on the right side is a wound that appears to match the bruise described in the 1782 record.” After the body was removed from the grave, it was found curled but not rigid—truly a “miracle” for the gawking crowd.

Bo Ya: Why do you go to such lengths describing Xavier’s story—even enjoying the details?

Zhong Wen: I wish to place the story of Matteo Ricci into a broader context, to show that Ricci’s appearance and achievements did not occur in isolation.

Bo Ya: In that respect, you have fully achieved your purpose.