Saint Francis Xavier: life and holiness

Professor Eduard López, SJ, PhD, has collaborated in a collective work entitled 1622. Cinco santos para la Reforma Católica (CEU-Ediciones, 2023, ISBN: 978-84-19111-95-1). The title of his contribution is: "La canonización de San Francisco Javier: vida y santidad" (pp. 127-162). His publication deals with the figure of this Jesuit saint and looks at the spiritual process through the Exercises as it has come down to us through his epistolary.

The project falls within the framework of this brief summary:

On 12 March 1622 one of the most glorious pages in the history of the Church during the Modern Era was written. On that date, Gregory XV raised to the altars five peerless illustrious figures, whose names would henceforth adorn the empyrean. We speak of Isidore Labrador (1082-†1172), Ignatius of Loyola (1491-†1556), Francis Xavier (1506-†1552), Teresa of Jesus (1515-†1582) and Philip Neri (1515-†1595), four Spaniards and a saint - to use the popular Roman expression of the time - protagonists of the first great canonisation of the Catholic Reformation and its very incarnation. This book is a tribute to them and the circumstances surrounding their respective canonisation processes, which were celebrated in style throughout the length and breadth of the world. It also deals with some other figures -Tomás de Villanueva (1486-†1555), Pedro de Alcántara (1499-†1562) and Luis Bertrán (1526-†1581)- who, on the verge of sharing the same fate as the aforementioned, had to wait several more decades to be crowned with the halo.

Eduard López Hortelano, Professor of the Faculty of Theology, holds a PhD in Theology, belongs to the Department of Moral Theology and Praxis of Christian Life and is an expert in Ignatian spirituality.

The complete publication can be purchased by clicking here.

All the latest news from the Faculty of Theology can be found on the website, in the monthly newsletter and on the social network X (formerly Twitter).