A Failing Mission?

The Jesuit textual production from the sixteenth century leaves no doubt that the Japanese evangelising enterprise was publicised as the epitome of success. Francisco Cabral, third superior of the mission, who had initially shared this judgement, in time began fearing that the mission was, instead, doomed to failure. As he perceived the loosening of the internal ties of the Society of Jesus, and the salvation of the catechumens as more and more independent of that of the Jesuits, Cabral concluded that God had abandoned the mission. This study, using little-known manuscript sources, examines Cabral’s attitudes towards his confreres and the Japanese people, to illuminate how particular salvation mechanics could define early modern Catholic missions.