Coming to Terms with the Legacy of St. Francis Xavier

We seem to be failing to come to terms with enduring legacy of St. Francis Xavier. The politics of the right-wing seems to be all out to reduce the great saint to Goa. There is an irreducibility about the legacy and heritage of St, Francis Xavier and we cannot limit it to Goa alone . In Recent days , the demand for DNA test about the relics of St. Francis Xavier by Subhas Velingkar, who seems to have become notorious for his views that are divisive and insensitively hurting the sentiments of the minorities. Perhaps, we have to understand the ideological underpinnings of this needless demand for the DNA test of the relics of the great Saint. First of all, we cannot view the relics outside the realm of religious as well as cultural milieu and sentiments of the people of Goa and everywhere else where the Saint is held in high esteem. St. Francis Xavier is certainly globally bigger than his relics in Goa. This provocative focus on the relics is another ideological imperative of the right-wing to diminish his legacy to Goa and convert it into political capital for the right-wing party. The Saint is apolitical in our Goan society and people of all walks of life throng to him. Therefore, it is best that we do not fall into the trap of this cunning provocation.

Perhaps, we need to come to the work of Reinhard Koselleck, a german thinker to understand the present provocation of Velingkar. To some reeling under the ideology of the right-wing, his unjustified demand may look apt. This is because to them nationalism as an ideology is a sublime object. Who will tell them , that St. Francis Xavier belonged to an era when there was no nation state as we have it today. Hence, they are guilty of a nationalism without a nation which they then see it in the past. This means they seem to see a past from the privileged position of the present. This is why we may have to come to the work of Koselleck which was developed to contest the right-wing ideology of Nazism. One of the most import of all his ideas, that can enable us to come to the bottom of the corrosive intend of the right-wing politics is the notion of logics of geography that we can find in his work on conceptual history. He teaches that every notion has a geography. Change in that geography results in the change in the notion over period of time. This means no notion remains same but changes with the passage of time.

Koselleck’s logics of geography can illumine us to see how a politics of geography is at play in the politics of the right-wing. In fact, all right-wing politics is a politics of geography. It concerns assigning of place to different people on the canvas of what they deem as a sacred geography. We have to keep this in mind as we try to identify an attempt to reduce the legacy of St. Francis Xavier to small geography of Goa and then use it as a stick to beat the catholic minorities in Goa. The logics of geography operating in any concept can be understood as a way of assigning place to what is deemed to be able to come to form the content of a concept on a black page. Let us take an example of the notion of family. Once the logic of geography of the notion of family was broad. The family meant a large group of people who share blood relations. That time the geography of the family was large enough to make room for a bigger family . Let us now see, what is a family today? Logics of geography that are operating today has no room for a big family. We may, therefore, ask what was the logic of geography of nation at the time of St. Francis Xavier and what is the logic of geography of nation today? This question will reveal the politics of the right-wing.

Velinkar appears to be operating on a logic of geography that is reducing the legacy of St. Francis Xavier to Goa. Goa is certainly part of his legacy but his legacy cannot be reduced to Goa alone. The logic of geography of his legacy is global. His life and work cannot be reduced to Goa. When he was alive his work has very little to do with Goa. Hence, this awareness of his domain of work in the past and domain of influence today can deconstruct these attempts to dimmish and even demonize St. Francis Xavier. Just like the hero of a drama occurs or rises as a ‘self’ or ‘ character’ from the collective play of plot, music, dialogues, setting and audience so too who is St. Francis Xavier today cannot be reduced to the man of the 16th century or his sacred relics is Goa. today. This is why when someone attacks him or even suspects his relics, he/she is humiliating and hurting a large tradition as well as global people who belong to it. The logic of geography of devotion and devotees of St. Francis Xavier is global and not simply limited to our golden Goa.

The demand for DNA test, therefore, appears to be an attempt to attack the global legacy of the great Saint. Besides, even if we grant that such a test is justified and has to be done. Who can ask for it? can a Christian ask for the testing the prasadam that is given in a Hindu temple, in Andhra Pradesh because he/she suspects that this prasadam is adulterated? Certainly not. There are authorities who are responsible for that cult and, therefore, are responsible to keep the purity of the prasadam. Similarly, no outsider can simply ask for DNA test as it has been demanded today. Well without entering these legal issues, perhaps, the politics of the demand is what we have understand in this context. The issue is raised to politicize the legacy of St. Francis Xavier and use it as a political capital to garner votes for the right-wing political party that does not need to be named. Hence, the understanding and promoting of the global legacy of St, Francis Xavier is the anecdote that we can offer to this narrow, divisive and toxic politics unleased by right-wing ideologue and leader Velinkar.

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