I’m all for giving old time Catholic priests a little sainthood now and again, but does it have to be for a guy who prescribes whippings and offers up his own shackles? Having grown up in California, I was taught that Father Junipero Serra was a kind fellow who just wanted to convert some natives, raise some cows and get a foothold in the state for Spain.
The more you look into now-Saint Serra, the more stomach-turning he becomes. (Believe me, I preferred the Serra I used to imagine.) Corporal punishment is one thing, but prescribing whippings and offering to provide shackles to help punish the Native Americans who tried to escape from your mission, seems to be a little much for a "saint." I know saints aren’t supposed to be perfect, but aren’t they at least supposed to be not cruel and inhumane?
Many people use the "man-of-the-times" argument. "Hey, it was the 1700s, what did you expect?" That argument quickly falls apart when you read historical accounts of other priests remarking at the cruelty of the mission system. Enjoy the cartoon, and be sure to dig into some of the links behind the cartoon.
[soothing, instructional narrator]
Narrator: Beloved Father Junipero Serra, founder of the California Missions and now . . .
The Saint of Small Type
Fast type: “Saint” in this case performed one miracle instead of the required two, but received a special dispensation from the pope.
Narrator: Just canonized by Pope Francis for his outstanding work in spreading the Gospel, Saint Junipero Serra—
Fast type: “Spreading the Gospel” may include whipping Native Americans.
Narrator: Father Serra established wonderful missions throughout California that were productive—
Fast type: —missions build by the slave labor of California’s indigenous people.
Narrator: Extending a loving, Christ-like hand, Saint Serra’s warm embrace will forever be—
Fast type: Men, women and children were beaten and tortured if they fled mission compounds.
Narrator: Father Serra’s missions supplied food to a growing region of the West—
Fast type: And Father Serra could supply the shackles if you needed them.
Narrator: Saint Serra was a man of the times, who did God’s work—
Fast type: A man of the times overseeing an operation other men of the times thought incredibly cruel.
Narrator: The Saint of Small Type . . . a perfect match for a good, loving Church, with some small type of its own.
Fast type: “. . . to capture, vanquish and subdue the Saracens, pagans and other enemies of Christ and put them into perpetual slavery and take all their possessions and their property.”