Javier Castle / St Francis Xavier

Born in castle（城堡）of a noble family on the North Eastern part of Spain in 1506, St Francis Xavier is the co-founder of Jesuit (Society of Jesus). He was determined to evangelise（傳福音） Asia following the Portuguese empire. He did extensive evangelisation（福傳）work in Goa, India. Then he also went to Malacca (Malaysia), Kagoshima (Japan), and China.

He met the co-founder of Jesuit, Ignatius Loyola while studying in Paris and left Rome in 1540 to start his missionary work in Asia. He spent 12 years in Asia and he was able to convert the whole city of Goa and bring Catholicism to Japan. It was his goal to preach in China. In 1552, he landed on the island of Shangchuan （上川島）, Southern China and died there. Although he did not preach in China but he laid the ground work for Jesuit.

In his family chapel in Javier Castle, it is worth noting that there is a smiling crucifix. This is rare but meaningful as the artist depicted Jesus knew that he has accomplished His work on earth, he said “It is finished” (John 19:30). Therefore, Jesus is full of Joy. It is typical in most statue of St Francis Xavier that he is carrying a crucifix; this is to show that he is a missionary and also the Patron Saint of Missionaries.

You can see his Statue in a number of churches in China. In particular, there is one in Shanghai named after him. It is the St Francis Xavier Church in Dongjiadu（董家渡）, Huangpu District. It was built in 1847 and completed in 1853 and was the largest church in China at that time and can housed about 2000 people.