John de Brito
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Saint John de Brito (Portuguese: João de Brito) (Lisbon, 1 March 1647 - Oriur, India, 4 February 1693) was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary and martyr, often called the Portuguese Francis Xavier. He was canonized in 22 June 1947, by pope Pius XII.
De Brito was the scion of a powerful Portuguese noble family: his father died while serving as Viceroy of Brazil. He joined the Jesuits, in 1662, studying at the famous College of Coimbra. He traveled to the missions of Maduré, in southern India, present-day Tamil-Nadu, in 1673. He returned to Europe, as a missions procurator, arriving in Lisbon, in 1683. The king Pedro II wanted him to stay, but he returned to India, with 24 new missionaries, in 1690.
The Maduré Mission was a bold attempt to establish an Indian Catholic Church that was relatively free of European cultural domination. As such, De Brito learned the native languages, went about dressed and living like a Hindu holy man, and tried to teach the Catholic faith in categories and concepts that would make sense to the people he taught. This method, proposed and practiced by Roberto de Nobili, met with remarkable success.
He was sentenced to death, due to his preachings, by an Indian king, the Setupati of Marava, in 28 January 1693, and executed the following 4 February 1693. In a letter he wrote to his superior, Father Francisco Laynes, he stated that "When guilt it's a virtue, to suffer it's glory."
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