In 1487, an important breakthrough was made when Bartolomeu Dias discovered the southern tip of Africa and rounded the Cape of Good Hope. This journey was significant; it proved, for the first time, that the Atlantic and Indian oceans were connected. The trip, in turn, sparked a renewed interest in seeking out a trade route to India. The first Catholic missionaries who came to Siam were probably the chaplains of Portuguese ships in the 16th century sent to Ayutthaya bringing the officers of Portugal to enter into relations with Siam. There are no documents to confirm this hypothesis. There is a written history prepared by foreigners stating that in 1544, Antonio de Paiva, a Portuguese, had traveled to Ayutthaya in the time of Phra Jairaja. Mean while, and carried out by Roman Catholic nobles, was the most violent episode of the warfare. Estimates of the victims ranged from 5,000 to 10,000. Included among them was Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligney, who had arranged for a short-lived peace agreement between Calvinists and Catholics in France in 1570.
French bishop The St. Batholomew's day massacare..On the night of August 23, 1572, thousands of French Calvinists (Huguenots) were massacred in Paris and other French cites in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. In the preceding decades, Calvinism had spread rapidly in France despite fierce persecution. The French Wars of Religion had begun in 1562 and continued until 1594.
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Christianity was affected by the invasion of Burma and the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767. With the advent of the present dynasty in 1782, the situation of the Mission improved gradually. The situation of the Catholic Mission at the end of the 18th century was not so favorable, since an expulsion of the missionaries took place by the order of King Taksin (1768-1782). King Rama I (1782-1809) sent for the missionaries because he wished to begin negotiations for an alliance with foreign countries and to promote trade with these countries as had been done before. In 1785, there were 413 Siamese Catholics of Portuguese origin at the Santa Cruz Church in Thonburi, 379 Cambodian Catholics at the Immaculate Conception Church in Samsen district as well as 580 Annamite Catholics. M. A. Launay described the general situation of the Mission of Siam in the beginning of the 19th century stating that in 1802 the total number of Christians in the Vicariate was estimated to be about 2,500 and in 1811 about 3,000. It may be noted that during the time of Msgr. Garnault (1786 1811), the restoration of the Mission was begun. In 1827, the decree of Pope Leo XII gave ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Singapore to the Apostolic Vicar of Siam. Propaganda Fide confirmed this jurisdiction over Singapore to the Apostolic Vicar of Siam on May 12, 1834. In 1835, about 1,500 Annamite Christians, fleeing from persecution, settled in Samsen and asked asylum from Bangkok. This was the origin of the St. Francis Xavier Church in Samsen. The church of the immaculate conception is located just off Samsen Road, close to the Chao Phraya River.
The first Catholic missionaries who came to
There is a written history prepared by foreigners stating that in 1544, Antonio de Paiva, a Portuguese, had traveled to
FX Exposition 1994-95, Goa India
Death & Burials:
St. Francis died on December 3, 1552, at age of 46. He was first buried on Shangchuan Dao's beach (China St. Paul
On December 11, 1553 (after one year from death) the incorrupt body of Francis Xavier was shipped toGoa . The body is now in the Basilica of Bom
Death & Burials:
St. Francis died on December 3, 1552, at age of 46. He was first buried on Shangchuan Dao's beach (
On December 11, 1553 (after one year from death) the incorrupt body of Francis Xavier was shipped to
