He became a provost of a diocese, but many of his preachings left his audience confused and bewildered. The parishioners felt that Francis acted superior and conceited. However, this was not true. Francis only had novel ideas and was very idealistic. He came up with an idea that most people felt was utterly ridiculous: Francis wanted to convert 60,000 Calvinists back to Catholicism.

Everyone, including his father, ridiculed and scoffed at his idea. It was only his cousin who had faith in him and joined him on his lonely quest. For years, he failed. Not one person converted and hardly anyone listened.