St. Francis Xavier's remains go on display for veneration in India

Published: 2004-11-23

GOA, India (CNS) -- The six-week exposition of the remains of St. Francis Xavier got under way Nov. 21, with thousands arriving in this former Portuguese colony. An estimated 8,000 pilgrims, some from overseas, attended the opening ceremony conducted by Archbishop Filipe Ferrao of Goa, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. The 43-day exposition, held every 10 years, is expected to draw 3 million pilgrims and tourists and attract international media to Goa, on India's southwestern coast. Daily veneration of the relic begins at 6 a.m. and ends at 7 p.m. Archbishop Ferrao led a concelebrated Mass at the Basilica of Bom Jesus. He urged people to cultivate "a reconciliatory attitude" toward all, following the "shining example" of the 16th-century Basque saint. The archbishop noted that the Jesuit missionary was a papal representative to Goa, then a Portuguese colony, but chose to live in the servants' quarters of a hospital. "The saint had also adopted a reconciliatory attitude toward sinners and worked toward bringing a change in their lives," he said.

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