The missionary travels took Francis Xavier to many places around the world. Francis Xavier was the only original companion to travel from Rome to Lisbon, Portugal and then to India
On route of his travels assisted previously established missions which included those in Mozambique and Melindi (Kenya) Africa, Socotra (an island off the coast of Somalia), and of course GOA which was then (a district on the west coast of India, and the main Portuguese centre) and other communities in the southern coastal areas.
It was in the year 1549, that Francis Xavier began the first Christian mission in Japan where he served in the country for over two years. Then in the year 1552, he set sail to begin the mission in China which was again a first in China.
However, he was not allowed to disembark on the Mainland. For three months, he waited on an island off of Canton while trying to gain entry into the country. Sadly, he died on the island of an acute illness at the age of forty-six.
Francis Xavier was canonized by Gregory XV on March 12, 1622, at the same time as Ignatius Loyola.