Francisco Cabral

Francisco Cabral, SJ (1529 - 1609) was a Portuguese Jesuit priest and missionary in Japan.

Early life Cabral was born in the castle of Covilhā, Diocese of Guarda, Portugal in 1529. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1554.

Cabral implemented several changes to refocus the Japan mission. He forbade the local Jesuit missionaries from wearing the orange silk robes worn by Buddhist priests, a practice that had begun under Francis Xavier so that missionaries would be taken more seriously by locals. He also stopped observing Japanese dietary customs, had fewer missionaries learn the Japanese language, and rejected other forms of cultural accommodation to the Japanese. Cabral also resisted the training of Japanese priests, believing that they may come to despise Europeans. These policies led to a decline in morale among local missionaries.

Cabral also supported the role of military force in evangelization, proposing in 1584 a Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese invasion of China which never realized.

Later life Cabral served as the Rector of the Colégio de São Paulo in Goa, and later as the Jesuit Visitor to India. He died in Goa in 1609.