Jesuit Asia missions

The Jesuits, or Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order, have had a long history of missionsinEast and South Asia from their very foundation in the 16th century.^[1] St. Francis Xavier, a friend of St. Ignatius of Loyola and co-founder of the Society, visited India, the Moluques, Japan and died (1552) as he was attempting to enter China.^{[citation needed]}