I just returned from Barcelona, Spain which has a huge statue of Christopher
Columbus returning from the Americas and a large royal square in front of the
palace where he was received by Queen Isabella. The history and architecture
of Barcelona reflects the colonial grandeur which, inn my view may even surpass
that of London. These observations encouraged me to read about the intense
Portuguese-Spanish rivalry in the Age of Discovery - fifteen and sixteen
century. I then read on the net two different accounts of SFX, which in my
opinion are totally opposite in describing the same person (SFX).
As I view it, SFX was a thorn in the side of the Portuguese (in Lisbon and in
Goa), especially given the strong rivalries of the two Iberian countries during
his period; and the contrary objectives of SFX and the Portuguese colonialists
in Goa.
The readers can read the following and make their own judgment of who is giving
us the BS.
Regards, GL
-------------- Ivo D' Souza wrote:
His (SFX) Apostolic Method: The Governor Martim Afonso de Sousa requested him
to reside in his Palace, but Francis preferred to stay in the Royal Hospital
("Hospital Real"), where he dedicated himself to the sick and lepers of the
Hospital of St.Lazarus. He was preaching and catechizing in the church of the
Rosary. Penitents crowded to Francis for confession in the chapel of the
hospital. In the old Cathedral of the Bishop, Francis baptized his neophytes.
On weekdays, in the afternoon, Francis visited prisoners of the Prison
("Cadeia", situated in a place in front of the Cathedral and the Palace of the
Vice-Roys), taught them how to confess, and ordinarily heard them afterwards in
general confession.
------------ Teo D'souza wrote
Francis Xavier represented the powerful Iberian power of those times and
simultaneously the hierarchical authority of the Tridentine Roman church,
backed by the moral authority of the Society of Jesus in ascendancy. Francis
Xavier was consequently backed by considerable authority, not withstanding his
own personality traits and zeal. Francis Xavier had extraordinary means at his
disposal during his lifetime,
A Sorbonne-based lady historian who has been analysing in recent years the
Jesuit missionary activities in India, including the historiography related to
Francis Xavier, has quite a few texts published and online that could shock the
pious devotees of the saint. She tells us, for instance, that Xavier's mission
among the Portuguese was exclusively for the benefit of the men and their
heroic mercantile and proselytising enterprises.
