Remembering Francis Not personally, as I am not that old!
But living in Japan where Xavier spent more than two and a half years did bring his name to mind. He did live in Goa too, where according to some historians, he spent four or five months. In Japan he was elated and depressed with the atheists . He said on one occasion, "This nation is a joy to my soul". He spoke highly of the cleanliness and the honesty of the people. He was not happy to encounter the Japanese language which he said was invented by the Devil as an obstacle against Christianity. Francis did not have good luck in Japan. The Japanese did not accept Christianity for the simple reason that they already had something far superior. Christianity compared to Buddhism appeared to them as a tall story in the Mark Twain sense of the word. Garbage. But we Goans of course love garbage and still do today! As we all know we refuse to part with it! We accepted Christianity or RC wholeheartedly. Perhaps, it is fair to say it was thrust on us, and subsequent generations continued to support this religion as it was a good way to stay on the right side of our colonial master. Human nature, nothing more. Xavier, of course, like any other missionary was gung ho in his mission to convert the locals to Christianity so he could reap his reward after this life. Xavier or Mother Theresa, not much of a choice. Since then, the RC Church has got the Goans! With the improvement, however, in the standard of education the Goan people are beginning to see the rot in the Church. As someone said, you cannot fool all the people all the time. In Goa today the power of the village padre in the villages is declining as is the power of the village school master! When I was growing up these two people were the village uncrowned kings. The priests of course put the fear of hell into you! Today we know that heaven and hell are psychological states of mine. You don't need to die to go to either place. Even today, unfortunately, RC Goans can't t do much about it. They are intellectually and emotionally controlled by the doctrines and teaching of the Roman Catholic Church however fake, Sunday fraud or not! The Jesuits, the Brahmins of the RC Church used to say, Give us a child up to the age of seven and we will give you a Christian for life! The Jesuits don't brag about it any more as ordinary people are educated enough to see through them. Better education, access to more information, and travel have broadened their intellectual horizon - they can no longer be fooled so easily. Xavier had a great impression of the Japanese who didn't believe in God! What has Xavier to say about the Goans? Just curious! Have a nice Sunday. Joao
