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Francis Xavier, a Missionary Beyond the Borders

 In a homily delivered in Manila on November 29, 1970, Saint Paul VI stated: “I would never have come from Rome to this far-distant land unless I had been most firmly convinced of two fundamental things: first, of Christ; and second, of your salvation.” He added: “The more distant the goal, the more difficult my mission, the more pressing is the love that urges me to it.” Saint Francis Xavier could have said the same words. For him, too, the motives were Christ and the salvation of the people.