Remembering our patron

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

Friday, Dec. 3, is the feast of St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint of the Green Bay Diocese. So it's with some interest that we note some 8,000 pilgrims attended the opening ceremony of an exposition of his remains in Goa. The 43-day exposition is held every 10 years and is expected to draw 3 million pilgrims and tourists to Goa, on India's southwestern coast.

At the opening Mass in the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Abp. Filipe Ferrao of Goa told pilgrims to follow St. Francis Xavier's example and cultivate "a reconciliatory attitude" toward all.

Francis, St. Ignatius Loyola and eight companions founded the Jesuits in 1534. He landed in Goa, then a Portuguese colony, in 1542 as a papal representative and used it as his base for missionary trips in Asia.

He died in 1551 on an island off China's coast before fulfilling his goal of preaching in China. His body was returned to Goa in 1554 and since 1637 has been at Bom Jesus Basilica. It stayed intact for centuries, but in recent decades has deteriorated. St. Francis Xavier was canonized in 1622.

As we celebrate his feast, we need to remember Catholics in Goa and throughout Asia and our common background as Jesuit missionary territory.