ST. FRANCIS XAVIER AND THE SOCIETY OF JESUS IN INDIA聖方濟各‧沙勿略與印度
The article analyzes the work of St. Francis Xavier and, above all, the manner in which the Society of Jesus structured the "spiritual conquest" in Indian contexts between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The author argues that Portuguese evangelization in Asia cannot be understood in isolat...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
July 2006
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40019/3746 |
| Summary: | The article analyzes the work of St. Francis Xavier and, above all, the manner in which the Society of Jesus structured the "spiritual conquest" in Indian contexts between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The author argues that Portuguese evangelization in Asia cannot be understood in isolation, as it resulted from the recurrent articulation of commercial, military, and religious motivations, frequently accompanied by forms of cultural violence, as evidenced in the paradigmatic case of Goa. Methodologically, the research frames the Jesuit experience within a critical examination of chronicles and missionary strategies, underscoring the absence of a single program for India and proposing a typology of the different modalities of apostolic activity. It concludes that, after Xavier's arrival in Goa (1542), the difficulties stemmed simultaneously from European religious crises and from the insufficient preparation of the orders for cultural diversity and for the complex insertion of Christian projects into local sociopolitical structures. Thus, the Jesuit mission was compelled to develop plural strategies of adaptation, mobilization, and circulation of the "Word," operating across different types of missions—from service to European settlers and conversion under Portuguese rule, to the evangelization of territories under Islamic influence and the model of cultural accommodation associated with initiatives such as that of Roberto de Nobili in Madurai. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |