Upon his election as the head of the Catholic Church, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio chose to be known as Pope Francis I. What's unclear at this point is which of the many men called St. Francis is the pope's inspiration.
The obvious assumption is that Francis chose his name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, who emulated the life of Christ like perhaps no other figure in the church's history and who is Italy's patron saint. But a good second guess would be St. Francis Xavier, who, like the new pope, was a Jesuit.
Francis Xavier was born on April 7, 1506, in Spain. After finishing his preliminary studies in his native country, he traveled to Paris, where he met St. Ignatius Loyola, who would go on the found the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as the Jesuits. Francis Xavier was one of the original members to take the vow of poverty and chastity in 1534. Six years later, the order would be approved by Rome.
"Then, within a month or so of the time that the society was approved in 1540, there was a call for a Jesuit to go to India to bring the faith to the East," explained Father Charles Federico, Vocation Director at the Society of Jesus. "The original guy that was supposed to go got sick, and Ignatius asked Francis Xavier if he would go. And so he would give his blessing at the port of Rome, and they would never see one another again."
When he left for India, Francis Xavier became one of the first missionaries, helping establish a tradition of going out into the world in the service of God that Jesuits still see themselves, Federico said.
"We're men serving the church on mission, with a commitment to Jesus Christ and a commitment to the pope, the Holy Father and the service of the church," Federico said. "Every guy that takes vows as a Jesuit commits himself really to that understanding of being a missionary, whether he's teaching in a high school or whether he's serving in the foreign missions."
The Jesuits are also renowned for their commitment to formal education, which Federico says is an expression of their devotion.
"For the Jesuit, learning is an act of faith, of praising God," Federico says. "It really goes from beginning a relationship with God and recognizing that all things have been created by God and they're tools for getting closer to God. So when we read a book, the understanding is that you're reading it to understand, where is God in that text? And how is it that God is calling me to respond?"
Francis Xavier spent three years in India preaching the word of God before heading off to Japan, China and other faraway lands. He died in 1552 off the coast of China, but he was ultimately laid to rest in Goa, in a church formerly owned by the Jesuits. In 1614, on the order of the Society, his right arm was cut off below the elbow and sent to Rome, where it still rests in the Church of Gesu.
And if Francis Xavier is in fact the man Pope Francis is honoring with his name, the timing couldn’t be much better. The day before Pope Francis' election was the final day of the Novena of Grace, a nine-day prayer that leads up to the anniversary of the canonization of Francis Xavier in 1622.
"He finished the Novena of Grace yesterday, and he chose St. Francis because of it," joked Father Federico.
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