The Fake Battle over the Body of St Francis Xavier

The 17th Exposition of the Sacred Relics of St. Francis Xavier will be solemnly inaugurated on November 22. In recent days, we had some people raising the question of the genuineness of the sacred body, which echoed the polemic that gripped the people of Goa in 1792 after the suppression of the Jesuits. 

The claim at that time was rather different from present one. It stated that the Jesuits shifted the real body of St Francis Xavier to Portugal and it was claimed that a body of a dead priest had replaced him in Goa. The same controversy raised its ugly head 25 years ago in Goa without much substance. The reining controversy that drew our attention claims that sacred body of St Francis Xavier was lost at sea during its transit to Goa and was replaced by the then Portuguese authorities with the body of Buddhist Monk Thhotgamuwe Sr Rahula Thera.

This claim was highlighted by the Sinhalese as well as the English press of Sri Lanka igniting a new controversy in Goa. Sri Lankan Journalist W T J S Kaviratne, who championed the conflict in Goa, failed to persuade Goans about the same. These claims are both misleading and provocative and cannot stand any critical scrutiny.

Those who interrogate its authenticity have no basis. At best, their view has to be dismissed as a conspiracy theory. 

Francis Xavier landed on Goan soil on May 6, 1542. During his ten years sojourn in the East, Francis Xavier returned to Goa four times but his total stay in Goa did not exceed eight months. His missionary expeditions took him to foreign territories like the islands surrounding Ceylon, Malacca, Moro, Moluccas and Japan. He died on the island of Sanciao while awaiting his entry into China.

Although, Francis worked on islands close to Ceylon, there is no evidence that he entered Sri Lanka. Of all things said and done, one thing is certain, Francis Xavier did not die in Sri Lanka.

Soon after his death, the body of St Francis was put in a Chinese-styled coffin on the Island of Sanciao. On February 17, 1553, after more than two months, his body was exhumed with the hope of taking his remains to Goa so that they can be sent to his family.

The body was taken to Malacca and was reburied without a coffin and very crudely at the entrance door of the sacristy of the Church of Our Lady of Mount at the end of March 1553.

After some months, the body was exhumed and it was still fresh and did not decompose. On August 15, 1553, the ship ‘Santa Cruz’ set sail for Goa along with the body. The body was embanked at Port Bhatkal and the convoy then set sail for Goa.

The convoy arrived into Goa on March 14, 1554. It was kept in the Ribandar Church for a night and the next day, the body was kept at St Paul College, Old Goa.

Dr Cosme Saraiva, then physician of the Viceroy and who personally knew Francis, after examination of the body, certified under oath that he medically checked all parts of the body and found it fresh without being embalmed with any artificial means.

It took 67 years for the Church to declare Francis Xavier as a saint. In 1556, the canonical process was initiated from Goa and in 1614, the right arm was amputated as the Pope required a concrete proof of his incorruptible body. Francis Xavier was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1619 and three years later, Pope Gregory XV canonized him.

From 1681, the Jesuits superiors in Goa already noticed that the body was already exhibiting signs of deterioration. In 1686, the body was shifted to a new and better coffin. Then in 1698, Cosmas III, the Grand Duke of Florence, sent a gift of the Florentine marble mausoleum on which the casket was mounted.

In 1744, under the orders of John IV, the king of Portugal, the Archbishop of Goa and the Viceroy opened the body to verify its condition and established that it was integral.

In 1751, the body was again opened for the sake of the family of the Viceroy.

From 1782-1952, the body of St Francis Xavier was exposed for solemn public veneration.

It is reported that for the first six expositions, every time that the body was exposed, it was subjected to through medical examination by a team of eminent surgeons.

All through the various examinations of the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier, there is nothing that suggests that body is of Asian and not of European origin.

But it was discovered the rate of deterioration of the body was increasing and therefore, the body was placed in a glass casket and no longer could be touched directly. This continued in the last five solemn expositions. The same will continue during the current solemn exposition. 

Hence, we can notice that there is no basis to believe that the body is that of an Asian or for that matter, of a brown Sri Lankan. When the body was brought to Goa, certainly there were those who knew and met Francis Xavier when he was alive and would have certainly discovered if his body was a fake one.

Moreover, the body cannot be of an old monk who died at the age of 83 in 1491 as the Portuguese came into India only in 1498 and thereafter entered Sri Lanka in 1505.  There are too many holes in the narrative that is under our study to merit any real attention. The body is certainly the sacred relic of St Francis Xavier and cannot be subject to further brutalization because of an un-substantive conspiracy raised by some people. 

Fr Victor Ferrao is a leading Christian theologist and dean at Rachol Seminary.