A Failing Mission? Salvation in the Jesuit Mission in Japan under Francisco Cabral

This monograph sheds new light on the tensions that surrounded the early modern idea of Catholic mission by using, as a case study, the perceived breakdown and failure of the Jesuit mission in Japan under the Portuguese Superior Francisco Cabral (1533-1609). The problem of salvation in the missionary field came to the fore during the Japanese mission, forcing the Jesuits to confront their expectations and jeopardising the paradigm of mission itself. In the 1570s, the efficacy of the religious vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, which guided the life and work of the Jesuit missionaries, appeared at risk, threatened by the rising tensions between the salvation of the missionaries and the salvation of their flock of Japanese Christians. Perceiving the mission as more and more spiritually polluted, Francisco Cabral faced a deep crisis that made him question the viability of the whole enterprise. This study considers the clashes between the Superior and his fellow Jesuits as Cabral attempted to identify a possible policy that could steer the great growth of the mission in the 1570s while managing its systematic funding woes. Feeling deserted by his superiors in India and Europe, distrustful of his brethren, and disillusioned with the Japanese Christians, Cabral struggled to find any sign that his sacrifices held divine approval. When he came to the conclusion that even God had abandoned the mission, Cabral’s only solution to maintain any hope for his own salvation was to leave for India, whence he opposed with vigour the Japanese mission and its new head, Alessandro Valignano.