*Pope Francis lands in Japan, where he once hoped to be a missionary*
*'Ever since I was young I have felt a fondness and affection for these lands,’ Pope tells Japan’s bishops*
In a meeting with bishops in Tokyo Saturday, Pope Francis recalled his former desire to be a missionary to Japan, praising those who carried the faith there before him.
“I don’t know if you are aware of this, but ever since I was young I have felt a fondness and affection for these lands,” Francis told the Japanese bishops in the apostolic nunciature in Tokyo Nov. 23.
As a young Jesuit, Pope Francis wanted to be sent to Japan to be a missionary, inspired by the example of St. Francis Xavier, but he was prevented from going because of his health.
Many years have passed since that missionary impulse, whose realization has been long in coming,” he said. “Today the Lord gives me the opportunity to come among you as a missionary pilgrim in the footsteps of great witnesses to the faith.”
Pope Francis is in Japan for the second leg of a six-day trip to Asia, which began in Thailand Nov. 20-22.
In addition to Tokyo, he will follow his predecessor St. Pope John Paul II in visiting the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, where he will give speeches at the sites of the 1946 atomic bombings. He is expected to speak against nuclear weapons and the arms trade.
The pope will also meet with victims of Japan’s 2011 “triple disaster,” when a major earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011 triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
*At his meeting with bishops, which took place immediately after his arrival in Tokyo, Francis recalled the Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier, whose arrival in Japan 470 years ago “marked the beginning of the spread of Christianity in this land.”*
“In his memory, I want to join you in thanking the Lord for all those who, over the centuries, have dedicated themselves to implanting the Gospel and serving the Japanese people with great tenderness and love,” he said.
The pope also pointed to the examples of the martyrs St. Paul Miki and his companions and Blessed Justo Takayama Ukon, a 17th-century Catholic Samurai and martyr.
*“Such self-sacrifice for the sake of keeping the faith alive amid persecution helped the small Christian community to develop, grow strong and bear fruit,” he stated, also praising Nagasaki’s “hidden Christians,” who kept the faith alive for around 200 years through their personal commitment to catechesis, prayer, and baptism.*
*The “DNA” of the Catholic community in Japan is marked by these witnesses, he said.*
*Catholics make up just .5 % of the population in the largely secular country.* Around half of these Catholics are foreign nationals recently let into the country as temporary workers in unskilled jobs.
The Church’s small size “must not diminish your commitment to evangelization,” he urged the bishops. “The starting point for every apostolate is the concrete place in which people find themselves, with their daily routines and occupations, not in artificial places.”
“It is there that we must reach the souls of our cities, workplaces and universities, in order to accompany the faithful entrusted to us with the Gospel of compassion and mercy.”
About the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, he said he wants to meet “those who still bear the wounds of this tragic episode in human history,” adding that “their continued sufferings are an eloquent reminder of our human and Christian duty to assist those who are troubled in body and spirit, and to offer to all the Gospel message of hope, healing and reconciliation.”
The pope also expressed his sorrow for the devastating Typhoon Hagabis, which hit Japan last month and led to at least 88 deaths and 300 injuries.
*“Let us entrust to the Lord’s mercy those who have died, their families and all who have lost their homes and material possessions,” he said. “May we never be afraid to pursue, here and throughout the world, a mission capable of speaking out and defending all life as a precious gift from the Lord.”*
Pope Francis exchanged a few laughs with the bishops at the start of the meeting, beginning by apologizing for not greeting each of them one by one as he entered.
“You will think, ‘but how rude these Argentinians are,’” he joked. He also said he heard the Japanese are good workers, so they put him to work immediately.
After speaking, Pope Francis opened up the floor to the bishops to ask him questions.
*On the last full day of his trip Nov. 25, the pope will meet with the country’s prime minister and emperor, and with authorities. He will also have an encounter with youth and will celebrate Mass in the Tokyo Dome.*
Francis Xavier, Spanish San Francisco Javier or Xavier, (born April 7, 1506, Xavier (Javier) Castle, near Sangüesa, Navarre [Spain]—
Died December 3, 1552, Sancian [now Shangchuan] Island, China; canonized March 12, 1622;
Feast day December 3),
The greatest Roman Catholic missionary of modern times who was instrumental in the establishment of Christianity in India, the Malay Archipelago, and Japan.
In Paris in 1534 he pronounced vows as one of the first seven members of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, under the leadership of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Early Life And Education
Francis was born in Navarre (now in northern Spain), at the family castle of Xavier, where Basque was the native language. He was the third son of the president of the council of the king of Navarre, most of whose kingdom was soon to fall to the crown of Castile (1512). Francis grew up at Xavier and received his early education there. As was often the case with younger sons of the nobility, he was destined for an ecclesiastical career, and in 1525 he journeyed to the University of Paris, the theological centre of Europe, to begin his studies.
His father was a privy counselor and finance minister to King John III of Navarre. He was the youngest in his family and resided in a castle which still partially stands today and is in the possession of the Jesuit order.
As the young Francis grew, he was surrounded by war. Navarre was the target of a campaign by King Ferdinand of Aragon and Castile, and the kingdom was eventually conquered.
When the war stopped and Francis came of age, he was sent to study at the University of Paris. While there he roomed with his friend, Peter Favre. The pair met and were heavily influenced by Ignatius of Loyola, who encouraged Francis to become a priest.
In 1529 Ignatius of Loyola, another Basque student, was assigned to room with Francis. A former soldier 15 years Francis’s senior, he had undergone a profound religious conversion and was then gathering about himself a group of men who shared his ideals.
Gradually, Ignatius won over the initially recalcitrant Francis, and Francis was among the band of seven who, in a chapel on Montmartre in Paris, on August 15, 1534, vowed lives of poverty and celibacy in imitation of Christ and solemnly promised to undertake a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and subsequently to devote themselves to the salvation of believers and unbelievers alike. Francis then performed the Spiritual Exercises, a series of meditations lasting about 30 days and devised by Ignatius in light of his own experience of conversion to guide the individual toward greater generosity in the service of God and humankind. They implanted in Francis the motivation that carried him for the rest of his life and prepared the way for his recurrent mystical experiences.
In 1530, Francis Xavier earned his master's degree, and went on to teach philosophy at the University of Paris.
On August 15, 1534, Francis Xavier along with Peter Favre, and several other friends, made vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The men planned to travel to the Holy Land to convert non-believers. Francis Xavier started his study of theology that same year and was ordained on June 24, 1537.
Pope Paul III approved the formation of their order in 1540, which became The Society of Jesus. The order is more popularly became known as the Jesuits.
While Francis Xavier was becoming a priest, Portugal was colonizing India. The Portuguese settlers in India and elsewhere were losing their faith and Christian values. To restore these values, the King of Portugal asked the Pope to send missionaries to the region.
Pope Paul III asked the new order to take the mission, particularly since they could not undertake their preferred mission to the Holy Land due to warfare there. Ignatius ultimately decided to send Francis.
Francis Xavier left for India in 1541, on his thirty-fifth birthday. As he departed he was informed that the pope appointed him to be the Papal Nuncio in the East. A Papal Nuncio is a diplomat who takes up permanent residence in another country to formally represent the Church there. He arrived in the region and colony of Goa, India on May 6, 1542.
Although Goa had churches and even a bishop in the Portuguese colony, there were few people to preach and minister to the Portuguese, especially outside the walls of the city.
A major problem Francis quickly recognized was the nature of the people and their intentions. Many sailors and settlers were former prisoners who had been recruited from Portuguese jails or were fleeing mistakes they made back home. None of them came to spread or live virtuous lives. Instead they came to escape Portugal, find adventure, or to make fortunes. Still, they settled and made families.
Xavier ministered first to the sick and the children. Then he learned about the native people of the Pearl Fishery Coast, which had been baptized a decade earlier, but were never taught their faith. Xavier began ministering to them. He spent three years among them, but was often embarrassed by the conduct of his Portuguese countrymen who were already Catholic, but frequently misbehaved.
Xavier built 40 churches for the people of the Pearl Fishery Coast. Xavier encountered difficulty in his mission because he usually worked to convert the people first, instead of their leaders.
Xavier eventually decided to travel to Malacca and the Maluku Islands to evangelize the people there. He spent about two years in the region, and while in Malacca, a Japanese man named Anjiro caught up with him. Anjiro was accused of murder in Japan but had managed to flee. Learning about Xavier, he decided to find Xavier and tell him about Japan, which he did. Xavier converted Anjiro to Christianity, making him the first Japanese convert to Christianity.
Xavier returned to Goa for about a year to attend to his official responsibilities, but he was very interested in visiting Japan. In 1549, he finally departed for the country, arriving in July of that year.
The local daimyo warmly received Xavier, but forbade his subjects from converting to Christianity. In addition to the legal obstacle, Xavier found language to be a barrier. The Japanese language was different than any other he had previously encountered.
Xavier was surprised to find that his poverty was a barrier to his communication. Poverty was not respected in feudal Japan as it was in Europe, so Xavier was compelled to change his strategy. On one occasion, when meeting with a local prince, Xavier arranged to be finely dressed and for his fellow missionaries to wait on him. He had gifts from India delivered to him. The charade had the desired effect and improved his reputation.
Despite his efforts, the Japanese were not easily converted. Most held fast to their traditional Buddhist or Shinto beliefs. The Japanese also found the concept of hell as a place of eternal torment to be difficult to accept.
Some traditionalists, including priests from the native religions, grew hostile toward Xavier and Christianity. Xavier established a few congregations, but the religion was suppressed from spreading by the nobility to grew to mistrust the outsiders and their faith. Eventually, Christianity became the subject of great persecution, forcing many to go underground with their belief.
Xavier finished his work in Japan for the time and decided to return to India with a stop in Goa. During his voyage, he was petitioned to meet with the Chinese emperor and argue for the release of several Portuguese prisoners as a representative of their government. Xavier decided to make the trip to China, but first felt the need to return to his headquarters in Goa.
He departed India for the last time in April, 1552 and stopped in Malacca to obtain official documents attesting to his status as a representative of the Portuguese king. However, the harbor in Malacca was now controlled by Alvaro da Gama, the Captain of Malaca and the son of Vasco da Gama.
Da Gama was not friendly to Xavier who refused to recognize his official status as Papal Nuncio. He confiscated the gifts Xavier intended for the Chinese emperor and staffed his ship with a new crew, loyal to himself.
Xavier's ship reached China in August, stopping at an island off the Chinese coast. From there, Xavier was on his own. He managed to find a man to agree to take him to China for a large fee, but while he was waiting for his boat to arrive became ill with a fever. Xavier died on December 3, 1552.
Xavier was buried on the island until February 1553 when his body was removed and taken to Malacca where it was buried at a church for a month. Then one of Xavier?s companions moved his body to his own residence for the rest of the year. In December, his body was moved to Goa. Xavier remains buried in a silver casket enclosed in a glass case.
Several of his bones have been removed. His right arm, used to bless converts, is on display in Rome. Another arm bone is kept on Coloane island, in Macau, which today is part of China.
Xavier was beatified by Pope Paul V on Oct. 25, 1619, and canonized by Gregory XV on March 12, 1622 at the same ceremony as Ignatius of Loyola. He is the patron of Catholic missions and his feast day is on December 3.
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