Christian Victims of Francis Xavier oppose public display of his corpse

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News Bharati English    26-Nov-2014
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-Virag Pachpore

As the Christian community in India braces to welcome the Christmas heralding the advent of the “Son of Man" and celebrate the coming of the ‘Saviour’, the corpse of Francis Xavier, who perpetrated mass murders and extreme tortures of the Hindus in order to ‘save their souls’ by converting them to the Gospel, is put on public display. As has been the practice, thousands of Christian devotees visit that corpse and praise the Lord every year.

But this time there is a different tale.

For the first time the ‘Christian victims of Francis Xavier’ have opposed to the public display of his corpse and demanded that the same should be deported to Portugal or France as soon as possible.

The Christian community has formed a pressure group called “Konkani Christian Victims of Francis Xavier’s Atrocities” to push for their demand. They say that 53 years have passed since the Portuguese rule ended in Goa. Therefore, this continued preservation of the corpse of Francis Xavier and its shameful public display every year tantamount to insult to Independent India. Therefore, this last remain of the Portuguese rule must be deported to country from where it came, at the earliest.

The group also planned to submit a petition to the Goa Government in pursuance of their demand for deportation of the corpse of the missionary who inflicted unimaginable and unpardonable atrocities on Hindus in the 15th century in the name of Holy Inquisition.

Francis Xavier, a Jesuit Missionary who came to India along with Vasco d’Gama in 15th century, in association with other Jesuit missionaries, inflicted inhuman atrocities on the Hindus of Goa and coastal regions in the name of Lord Jesus. The details of his atrocities have been recorded by noted historian of Goa A K Priyolkar in his famous monumental treatise “The Goa Inquisition”.

The Jesuits are supposed to take an oath before they are initiated as missionary. The oath itself speaks for the extreme violent nature of their conversion activities. It says:

“I furthermore promise and declare that I will, when opportunity present, make and wage relentless war, secretly or openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Liberals, as I am directed to do, to extirpate and exterminate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex or condition; and that I will hang, waste, boil, flay, strangle and bury alive these infamous heretics, rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women and crush their infants' heads against the walls, in order to annihilate forever their execrable race. That when the same cannot be done openly, I will secretly use the poisoned cup, the strangulating cord, the steel of the poniard or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity, or authority of the person or persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do by any agent of the Pope or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Faith, of the Society of Jesus.”

This was exactly what Francis Xavier and his Jesuit missionary colleagues did to the Hindus in Goa and Coastal Indian regions 500 years ago. Temples were destroyed, idols trampled, Hindus were converted by using all the means stated in the above oath and tortured under the infamous Goa Inquisition. And no Pope so far has ever apologized to the people of India, especially those of Goa and coastal regions for these atrocities.

According to Robert Rosariao, a Mangalore-based activist and leader of the ‘Victims’ the Christian community has risen in opposition to this public display of Xavier’s corpse, who lived 500 years ago and is alleged to be a saint and a miracle worker.

A section in the Christian community has formed a pressure group named Konkani Christian Victims of Francis Xavier’s Atrocities. The Victims say that it is 53 years since Portuguese rule ended in Goa. Therefore, the continued preservation of Xavier’s corpse in India is an insult to India, and must be dispatched to Portugal/France as soon as possible.

Francis Xavier’s corpse (alleged to have been preserved) is on public display from November 22, 2014 to January 4, 2015 for the first time in the history of 500 years, Rosario claimed. The corpse is preserved in Old Goa’s Basilica of Bom Jesus.

The ‘Victims’ have started to oppose this vulgar display of the corpse and have launched an agitation claiming that they were the descendent of the victims of Francis Xavier’s atrocities. They demanded that his mortal remains should be sent back to his home country. This group has also started a signature campaign country-wide to press for their legitimate demand.

However, Christian missionaries and the Church organizations continue to eulogise Francis Xavier as the ‘saviour’ of lakhs of Hindus who were converted by him to Christianity. They also paint him as a ‘saint’ and a ‘miracle worker’. By doing so, they justify preserving his corpse and putting the same on public display so that people of all the faiths can offer their respects to him.

However, the ‘Victims’ say that it is 53 years since the Portuguese rule ended in Goa. Therefore, the continued preservation of Xavier’s corpse in India is an insult to India, and must be dispatched to Portugal as soon as possible. The Victims also plan to petition the Government of Goa and the Central Government.

“There’s no more Portuguese rule in Goa. Preserving Xavier’s corpse in Goa is a matter of shame to the self-respect of this country. His corpse must be flown to France as soon as possible. A nationwide signature campaign has been initiated against the stand of the Goan Church. We will soon petition the Goa Government and the Central Government”, said Robert Rosario, activist and leader of the Victims of Francis Xavier movement.

Who is Francis Xavier?

Francis Xavier, who holds an esteemed place in the pantheon of Catholic Christian saints was a Padre originally hailing from France. Born in 1506, he settled down in Goa in 1543 to undertake missionary activities.

History records his barbarism in quite graphic detail. In the name of Holy Inquisition, Francis Xavier perpetrated mass murder and extreme torture of Hindus in Goa. If he suspected that someone had committed even a minor lapse in following the tenets of Christianity, he would torture them brutally. About 2000 Christians were killed under his watch and thousands of Hindus left their homes and fled to various places along the South Canara coast to save their lives.

The Victims hold that it is heinous to glorify such a mass murderer, who tortured and killed their ancestors, as a saint.

When he died in 1552, he was not given a regular Christian burial but was anointed as a saint and his corpse was preserved in a special coffin. Then his corpse was displayed in public once every ten years. It is said that his corpse has not decayed even after 500 years, and that the corpse is missing a hand, which is most probably preserved in France or Italy.