What a 472-year-old corpse reveals about India

SOME BOW. Others halt in their tracks. But every person in the queue reaches out, palm open, to touch the glass-panelled casket, supplicating before the body and spirit of St Francis Xavier. Reverence for departed religious figures is not uncommon. What is unusual, is that the body of St Francis Xavier is 472 years old. Roughly once a decade, the Archdiocese of Goa organises an exposition of his relics. This is the 18th exposition since 1752, which ended on January 5th. Nearly 8m pilgrims visited it. That is double the number of visitors who came last time, says Father Barry Cardozo. Christians, Hindus, Muslims and others asked for the saint’s grace.