António Francisco Critana (1549-1614)

Clergy of the Society of Jesus who worked mostly in Japan. Born in Almodovar do Campo around 1549, he passed away 28 November, 1614. He studied Arts at the University of Alcala, and joined the Society April 1571, arriving in Japan August 1586. He was well versed in the canons of the Catholic Church, being consulted frequently regarding Cases of Conscience and the practice of the Sacraments. In November 1592 in Hachirao, his training completed, he professed the vows of Spiritual Coadjutor. Before serving as Apostolic Notary in 1598, he had been Minister of the Novitiate for two years. He served as Consultor to the college at Nagasaki and, during the persecution, due to his weak constitution, was placed there, with the role of Confessor added to his duties. Between 1603 and 1606 he was Prefect of Our Lady of Assumption Church and of its Third Order Fellowships, remaining in Nagasaki for the years following. He was exiled and left for Manila in 1614, dying during the trip there.

Bibliography: COSTA, João Paulo Oliveira e, O Cristianismo no Japão e o Episcopado de D. Luís de Cerqueira, dissertação de doutoramento em História apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1998 (texto fotocopiado). Monumenta Historica Japoniae, dir. de Josef Franz Schütte S. J., Roma, Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, 1975. Translated by: Maria João Pimentel