A few days ago your messenger arrived here with your letter to us. From him we heard the news concerning you, and from the letter we learned of your excellent recollection of us as well as of the great desire you have for the salvation of those souls in your Indies which are becoming white for the harvest. Would that we could satisfy you and moreover our own inclinations which are likewise zealous! But something at present stands in the way so that we cannot respond to the desires of many, to say nothing of yours. You will understand this from what I now explain. All of us who are mutually bound together in this Society have pledged ourselves to the supreme pontiff, seeing that he is the lord of the entire harvest of Christ In this offering we have indicated to him that we are prepared for all that he may in Christ decide in our case. If, therefore, he should send us there where you summon us, we shall go rejoicing. The reason that we subjected ourselves in this way to his judgment and will was that we know that he has a greater knowledge of what is advantageous to the whole of Christendom.

There have not been lacking some who for a long time now have been trying to have us sent to those Indies which the Spaniards are daily acquiring for the emperor. A certain Spanish bishop and the envoy of the emperor had been especially persistent in this regard, but they learned that it is not the will of the supreme pontiff that we depart from here because even at Rome there is an abundant harvest. To be sure, the distance of places does not frighten us nor does the labor of learning the language. Let only that be done which above all is pleasing to Christ. Ask in our behalf, therefore, that He makes us His ministers in the word of life. “There is no question of our being qualified in ourselves” [2 Cor 3.5]; rather our hope is in His abundance and riches.

You will learn much about us and our affairs from the letter which we have written to our special friend and brother in Christ, Diego de Cáceres, a Spaniard. He will show it to you. There you will see how many tribulations we have hitherto endured at Rome and how we at last emerged unscathed. Even in Rome there are many to whom the light of the Church’s truth and life is hateful. Be you vigilant therefore, and with as much effort occupy yourself now in teaching the Christian people by the example of living as heretofore you exerted in defense of the faith and the Church’s teaching. For how do we believe the good God will preserve the truth of the holy faith in us if we flee from virtue itself? It must be feared that the principal cause of errors of doctrine comes from errors of life, which unless they be corrected, the doctrinal errors will not be cleared from the way.

As we bring this letter to an end, it remains for us to beg you to deign to commend us to our most esteemed masters, Barthélemey, de Cornet, Piccard, Adam, Wancob, Laurency, Benoît, and all others, who gladly acknowledge being our teachers and us as their students and sons in Christ Jesus in whom farewell.

From the city of Rome, November 23, 1538

Yours in the Lord,
Pierre Favre and his companions and brothers