Indonesia and Japan, enduring incredible hardships from hostile locals,
language barriers, disease and poor climates. Only a premature death
prevented him entering the mysterious land of China. That mission was
achieved by another brilliant innovative missionary, Matteo Ricci. The
work of St. Francis in India was carried on by Fathers Barzeus, Mesquita,
de Torres and Robert de Nobili. Adopting the dress and manners of the
Brahmin, the saintly Father de Nobili, early in the 1600’s, penetrated into
this hitherto inaccessible caste and began to convert and baptize them. By
the end of the century, the mission numbered 150,000.
In South America, Father Emmanuel de Nobrega, Bl. Ignatius Azevedo,
and Bl. Joseph Anchieta labored for the conversion of the natives in Brazil.
The latter, gifted with the charisms of tongues and miracles, wrote a rule of
life for the Reductions, communities of native Indian converts. The most
famous of the Reductions were those of Paraguay. Together, they formed a
virtual empire based on virtue. Even one of the greatest enemies of
Christianity, Voltaire, said of the Reductions, “they appear to be in some
respects the triumph of humanity.”
North America was no less a missionary field of activity for the Jesuits.
French Jesuits such as Fathers Lejeune, Bressani, Jogues, Lalemant and
Brebeuf worked tirelessly among the Iroquois and Huron tribes in north-
east America. Epic heroism was not lacking in the horrific torture of Father
Bressani and the martyrdom of Saint Isaac Jogues in the 1640’s.
Nor was heroism lacking elsewhere. Returning by ship to Brazil in 1570,
Bl. Ignatius Azevedo, together with thirty-nine other Jesuits were
intercepted by a Dutch pirate. All were offered their lives and freedom if
they apostatized to Calvinism. All of them, to the youngest novice, refused
and were subsequently butchered. As he fell, mortally wounded, Bl.
Ignatius Azevedo declared, “Angels and men are witness that I die on
behalf of the holy Church, Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic.”
This heroism was surpassed by the Jesuit missionaries of Japan. By 1597,
the members of the infant church founded by St. Francis Xavier numbered
two hundred thousand. The Taicosama (or Emperor), stirred into believing
that the Jesuits were a threat to his rule, launched a massive persecution of
the Church that lasted for decades. Among the hundreds of thousands that
suffered for the Faith were numerous Jesuits. Three were martyred in
Nagasaki in 1597; Father Charles Spinola was martyred in 1622 after being
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