INDIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
Missionary efforts spearheaded by Saint Francis Xavier and other Jesuits made numerous converts in India, Ceylon, and Southeast Asia, with much of their success coming as a result of their respect for local customs; however, many of these gains were erased under local pressures or later conquest by Protestants.
Francis Xavier, a Jesuit, arrived at Goa on the west coast of India in 1542. Goa had been a Portuguese trading post, and as such, many of the locals had knowledge but very little understanding of Christianity. Francis Xavier and his fellow missionaries instructed the natives in Christian beliefs, both deepening their understanding and forming new converts. He translated the Catechism into the vernacular and traveled the country preaching. Other missionaries continued to evangelize in India through the 18th century, notably: Robert Nobili, an Italian who used local customs as a method of spreading the gospel message; John de Britto, one of the few to be martyred in India; and Constant Joseph Beschi, who mastered the Tamil language in his efforts to spread the gospel. However, these missionaries’ efforts were largely negated as Protestant missionaries from Denmark and the Netherlands began Protestant communities throughout India.
From India, Francis Xavier went on to Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), where he founded a number of missions. Missionaries continued to work in Ceylon until the Protestant Dutch took over the island in the 1600s and outlawed Catholic worship.
Francis Xavier reached the East Indies, the enormous archipelago lying to the south of Asia, and began a number of missions there in the 1540s. Other Catholic missionaries were based out of Portuguese trading posts, while still others originated in the Spanish Philippines, which by 1750 had over a million Catholics as a result of Spanish Catholic missions. However, the Protestant Dutch arrived in the late 1500s and expelled the Portuguese from the region, leaving the Spanish Philippines as the only Catholic colony in the East Indies. Later efforts in Southeast Asia included work by the Paris Society for Foreign Missions, a group of French priests who started missions in present-day Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
Francis Xavier, a Jesuit, arrived at Goa on the west coast of India in 1542. Goa had been a Portuguese trading post, and as such, many of the locals had knowledge but very little understanding of Christianity. Francis Xavier and his fellow missionaries instructed the natives in Christian beliefs, both deepening their understanding and forming new converts. He translated the Catechism into the vernacular and traveled the country preaching. Other missionaries continued to evangelize in India through the 18th century, notably: Robert Nobili, an Italian who used local customs as a method of spreading the gospel message; John de Britto, one of the few to be martyred in India; and Constant Joseph Beschi, who mastered the Tamil language in his efforts to spread the gospel. However, these missionaries’ efforts were largely negated as Protestant missionaries from Denmark and the Netherlands began Protestant communities throughout India.
From India, Francis Xavier went on to Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), where he founded a number of missions. Missionaries continued to work in Ceylon until the Protestant Dutch took over the island in the 1600s and outlawed Catholic worship.
Francis Xavier reached the East Indies, the enormous archipelago lying to the south of Asia, and began a number of missions there in the 1540s. Other Catholic missionaries were based out of Portuguese trading posts, while still others originated in the Spanish Philippines, which by 1750 had over a million Catholics as a result of Spanish Catholic missions. However, the Protestant Dutch arrived in the late 1500s and expelled the Portuguese from the region, leaving the Spanish Philippines as the only Catholic colony in the East Indies. Later efforts in Southeast Asia included work by the Paris Society for Foreign Missions, a group of French priests who started missions in present-day Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.