• REMARKS:
  3rd General of the Jesuits, Canonised 1670
  
• BIOGRAPHY
  A great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI, Francisco de Borja y Aragón was born in Gandia, in the Spanish province of Valencia, on 20 October 1510 son of Juan II Borgia, 3.Duque de Gandia and Juana de Aragón. In July 1529 in Madrid he married Eleonora de Castro and they had eight children. In 1539 he was appointed imperial viceroy in Catalonia. He proved a model governor; but he was not acceptable to everybody, on account of his determined efforts to suppress corrupt administration of justice by the nobility and magistrates.
  
  In 1543 his father died and he became 4th Duque de Gandia. In 1547 his wife died, and in the following year he was received privately into the Society of Jesus; having made over his titles and estates to his eldest son, and provided for his other children. He was ordained priest in 1551. He did all he could to make men forget his exalted origins, but his abilities could not be hidden; he preached successfully in Spain and Portugal, and in 1554 St. Ignatius Loyola made him commissary for those countries. In this office Francisco popularized the then little-known Society of Jesus, founding numerous houses and colleges, and attracting many good recruits.
  
  In 1561 Francisco de Borja was summoned to Rome and four years later was appointed father general of the Jesuits. The order made great progress during his short rule; he has, indeed, been called its second founder. He was particularly concerned with the improvement of the Roman College (now the Gregorian University), which he had already partially endowed. In 1571 Pope Pius V chose St. Francesco to accompany a mission to several European capitals; his reputation had preceded him, and crowds gathered, shouting: ''We want to see the saint' and clamouring to hear him preach. But the fatigue entailed aggravated his failing health, and he died, 1 October 1572, a few days after getting back to Rome. In his last moments, as his brother Thomas rehearsed their names, Francesco pronounced a blessing on each of his children and grandchildren. He was typical of the patrician saints, self-effacing, determined, enterprising, winning people of all ranks by his kindness and courtesy.