Pope Francis Canonizes Peter Favre, his Favorite Jesuit
Associated Press    17 Dec, 2013
 
VATICAN CITY –  Pope Francis has declared the 16th-century Jesuit Pierre Favre a saint, bypassing the Vatican's typical saint-making procedures to honor the first recruit of Jesuit founder St. Ignatius Loyola.
 
The announcement was made Tuesday on Francis' 77th birthday, something of a gift to his Jesuit family for whom Favre is a beloved role model.
 
Francis, the first Jesuit pope, recently spoke about the importance Favre had on his life, in particular his message of dialogue with anyone "even with his opponents."
 
The Rev. James Martin, author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, said Favre may be little known to the outside world but is much beloved, particularly for having met with Protestants during the Reformation, when they were considered heretics.
 
"Favre said, `Take care never to close your heart to anyone,"' Martin said. "His canonization reminds us of the value of dialogue, charity, discernment, prayer and mercy."
 
Francis has made opening the church's doors to all a hallmark of his nine-month papacy.
 
Favre, who lived from 1506-1546, was a roommate of St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founders of the Jesuits, at the University of Paris. The Jesuits call Favre Ignatius’ ”first recruit,” and he tutored the Jesuit founder in Greek   while Ignatius schooled his pupil in his signature “Spiritual Exercises.”
 
Favre was beatified by Pope Pius IX in 1872, but he was never credited with the required miracle that would formally elevate him to sainthood.   On Tuesday, Francis — waived that requirement and  “enrolled him in the catalogue of the Saints.”
 
Speaking to a consortium of Jesuit magazines earlier this year, Francis praised Favre’s “dialogue with all, even the most remote and even with his opponents; his simple piety, a certain naivete perhaps, his being available straightaway, his careful interior discernment, the fact that he was a man capable of great and strong decisions but also capable of being so gentle and loving.”
 
According to the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at large at America magazine, the three Jesuits — Xavier, Ignatius and Favre — became fast friends despite their different temperaments and skills.
 
“In later years Ignatius would become primarily an administrator, guiding the Society of Jesus through its early days, spending much of his time laboring over the Jesuit Constitutions,”  He died alone, in the heart of Christendom.
 
“Xavier became the globetrotting missionary sending back letters crammed with hair-raising adventures to thrill his brother Jesuits.  He died alone on the threshold of China.
 
Favre, on the other hand, spent the rest of his life as a spiritual counselor sent to spread the Catholic faith during the Reformation. His work was more diplomatic, requiring artful negotiation through the variety of religious wars at the time.”  He died in the arms of Ignatius.
 
Martin said the various spellings of Favre’s name — he’s also known as Pierre Favre and Peter Faber — indicate “the lack of attention given him.”
 
“That of course changes with the canonization,” he said.

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Xavier University has recently renamed one of its buildings on the main campus in honor of St Peter Faber. The former CIT Building is now known as Faber Hall.