Xavier Centre Of Historical Research, Porvorim

About Xavier Centre Of Historical Research, Porvorim

The Xavier Centre of Historical Research is a Jesuit history research centre located in Alto Porvorim, Goa in India. It was founded in the late 1970s and its first director was John Correia Afonso and it’s co founder and second director was Teotonio R. de Souza (1979–1994). Charles Borges, who had served as Administrator and Associate Director, took over the direction of XCHR until the year 2000, when he left for Maryland College in Baltimore as its faculty staff. He was succeeded by Delio Mendonca, SJ followed by Savio Abreu SJ and the current director is Anthony da Silva, SJ. It is a prominent institution in Asia for its focus on Indo-Portuguese issues, and besides organising seminars and talks, it also publishes a number of books related to the Portuguese in India and Asia, Goa, the Jesuits and other historical themes. It has set up an art gallery.

The XAVIER CENTRE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH (XCHR), set up in 1977, is an expression of the intellectual activity of the Jesuits in general and of the Jesuit Province of Goa in particular. However, the Jesuit intellectual work in Goa is almost as old as the presence of Society of Jesus itself here, that arrived with St Francis Xavier in 1542. The then Society was exclusively for Europeans and the history they wrote was greatly entangled with and in favour of the Portuguese colonial rulers in Goa.