Francis Xavier Biography

Francis Xavier was a Basque Roman Catholic Missionary and a co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was born as Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta in Navarre into a prosperous family. He had a happy childhood until the age of nine when his father passed away. He received his early education from his mother and a parish priest and later left home to pursue his studies at the University of Paris. He met Ignatius of Loyola in 1529, who was a roommate and was 15 years elder to him. After several dialogues with Ignatius who had undergone a religious conversion, Xavier became one of the first seven Jesuits to undertake the vows of poverty and chastity, and also pledged his allegiance to the Pope. The friendship between Ignatius and Xavier was the one for a lifetime. Francis Xavier achieved priesthood in 1537 and on the Pope's order he became the first foreign missionary to visit India. After landing in Goa, he started learning the local language. He began preaching, attending to the sick and teaching children. His work was notable and he enjoyed reasonable success, but found hardships while trying to convert the Brahmins. After India, he visited Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan. He then decided to visit China, but fell ill before reaching the mainland and died.