Francisco Cabral Biography
Francisco Cabral, SJ (1529 - 1609) was a Portuguese Jesuit priest and missionary in *an.
Early life
Cabral was born in the castle of Covilhā, Diocese of Guarda, Portugal in 1529. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1554.
Work in *an
Cabral arrived in *an in the spring of 1570 to serve as Superior of the Jesuit *an Mission.
Cabral implemented several changes to refocus the *an mission. He forbade the local Jesuit missionaries from wearing the orange silk robes worn by Buddhist priests, a practice that had begun under Francis Xavier so that missionaries would be taken more seriously by locals. Cabral viewed these garments as a cape used by the devil while infiltrating the mission, and insisted that priests wear the traditional black c*ock. He also stopped observing *anese dietary customs, had fewer missionaries learn the *anese language, and rejected other forms of cultural accommodation to the *anese. Cabral also resisted the training of *anese priests, believing that they may come to despise Europeans. These policies led to a decline in morale among local missionaries.
Church membership in *an grew to 130,000 during Cabral's leadership, as a number of daimyo converted to Christianity, some with the intention of having better trade conditions with Macau. However, the isolated Jesuit mission lacked funding. Cabral believed that the mission had been abandoned by God due to the sins of its members, and by 1576 had asked the General of the Society to let him return to Europe.
A number of Jesuits, including the canonical Visitor to the Eastern Missions Alessandro Valignano and Father Gnecchi-Soldo Organtino, were opposed to Cabral's policies and openly resisted them. Valignano opened a school for the training of lay ministers in 1580 over Cabral's objections. Valignano formally criticized Cabral in a letter to the General in October 1580; Cabral later asked Valignano to relieve him of his post as Superior, and left *an in 1581, being replaced by Gaspar Coelho. Following his departure from *an, Cabral advised the General that *an should be evangelized through *ertion of Jesuit iden*y and profound spiritual life.
Cabral also supported the role of military force in evangelization, proposing in 1584 a Spanish, Portuguese and *anese invasion of China which never realized.
Later life
Cabral served as the Rector of the Colégio de São Paulo in Goa, and later as the Jesuit Visitor to India. He died in Goa in 1609.
