"I'm outraged," Olin Tezcatlipoca, director of the Mexica Movement, an organization that educates the public about indigenous rights, said of the decision by Pope Francis to canonize Junipero Serra. "This is sad because supposedly this pope is more enlightened and more progressive. This came as really shocking."
Junipero Serra should not be made a saint. He should be considered nothing less than a monster. He headed-up a system of hegemony and genocide that was intent on imperial conquest. He and his legion of Spanish conquerors were intent on a manifest destiny which saw the enslavement of aboriginal people. The violent rapes of indigenous women, the cruel and barbaric tortures and murders of Indian men, such neglect that little Indian children died as the end result, and draconian tactics which ultimately forced First Nations people from their traditionalism, religion, languages, customs, and beliefs, should not be celebrated by the powerful and mighty Roman Catholic Church.
The decision of Pope Francis to grant sainthood to this priest - Junipero Serra - is blatantly wrong. Serra should be considered no less than a dark religious, political and societal figure who committed crimes against humanity.
Canonizing Serra would be no less than condoning and even celebrating a long-lasting genocide of the Spanish Catholic mission system that was put in place by Pope Alexander VI following Cristobal Colon's (Christopher Columbus's) voyage to the Americas. Serra was hardly a 'Prince of Peace' - no, he can be considered in the same light as the ISIS radicals who are beheading western Christians in the name of Allah. He was a vampire who wore a cloak of Catholicism to convert "infidel" Indians.
According to Robert Jackson, in "The Dynamic of Indians Demographic Collapse in the Mission Communities in Northwestern New Spain," published in 1990, the grim realities of the Catholic Mission system saw 90 percent of children born in missions dying before they reached the age of 10. The population of the seven Baja California [mission] establishments experienced a mean rate of 83 percent [population] decline, and 90 percent in the Alta California missions....The life expectancy at birth, was 7.4 years for the seven Baja California mission[s], and 4.5 years for…20 Alta California establishments,” according to writer Steven Newcomb in indianz.com.
To call these things "establishments" with a denotation of such a flowery and a holy word as "missions" is a grievous misnomer. They were anything but - pure and simple, the California Baja missions and related "establishments" were concentration camps for Indians. Those that suffered the most were the youngest, smallest, least powerful, and most needy of all - little aboriginal children. They were not places of worship, but dungeons of horror and death. The Baja mission system used the "might is right" way of evangelizing - with whips, chains, and unspeakable types of violence. The Baja Missions were anything but holy - they were very unholy - a place only Mephistopheles would enjoy.
With so many saints canonized already, why does Pope Francis need to canonize Junipero Serra? Shaving a mustache off a very dangerous dog by giving him the title of "saint" only will make the Roman Catholic Church look barbaric and abominable. And many feel this way about the church already. This point doesn't even need to be made. Currently enmeshed in many controversies and scandals (none of which have anything to do with Junipero Serra), the Roman Catholic Church doesn't need to be canonizing someone as controversial and hated as Junipero Serra. If anything, it needs to canonize a very holy man or woman who did great things, holy and righteous things, and most of all, did benevolent acts that helped others - maybe not the whole of humanity - but a big order is in order, Pope Francis. You need to find an American priest or nun who was a true saint. I'm sure there are many and the long list will be hard to prune down to a short list. You certainly don't need to canonize a religious werewolf like Junipero Serra.
Changing a missionary's title from "father" to "saint" is no way to treat such a monster and Pope Francis should know better - he is from South America and knows the plight that aboriginal people have had in the Americas. Pope Francis, saints do not march and give orders to big burly men brandishing weapons to carry out orders. Simply put, this is the earmark of a death camp warden.
Anyone born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pope Francis, and who had most of his religious vocation centered there, shouldn't need to be lambasted for considering something as diabolical - perhaps even as lame-brained - as to canonize who many would consider today to be a terrorist, as a saint. Get a grip on the New World's history, good padre'.
Even in the nation's capital, Junipero Serra has become a very controversial figure. So much so, in fact, that California State Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), wants the bronze statue of Junipero Serra that is in Statuary Hall to be replaced with a statue of Sally Ride, the U.S.A.'s first female astronaut, a Californian, and a member of the LGBT community.
“Dr. Sally Ride is a California native, American hero and stratospheric trailblazer who devoted her life to pushing the limits of space and inspiring young girls to succeed in math and science careers,” Sen. Lara said in a statement. “She is the embodiment of the American dream.”
Sen. Lara was elected with overwhelming support in November 2012 to represent the Southeast Los Angeles County cities of the 33rd Senate District. Raised in a blue-collar, immigrant household, Lara is one of the most influential members of the California State Senate, chairing the powerful Appropriations Committee and serving as a member of the Energy, Utilities and Communications, Governance and Finance, Governmental Organization, and Banking and Financial Institutions committees.
An advocate for the environment, Sen. Lara created the California Clean Bus, Truck and Freight Program to encourage clean energy while investing in good jobs and authored legislation to create a state plan to address short-lived climate pollutants such as diesel soot, which are known to cause climate warming and negatively impact public health.
And perhaps most importantly, Ricardo Lara comes from indigenous roots, and knows the plight that American Indians, along with Latinos and Hispanics, have had in the Golden State. He knows the actual history of the California Baja Missions all too well.
And Lara's bill would force the Junipero Serra statue to be moved from Statuary Hall to the California Capitol in Sacramento, where visitors “can enjoy it and be reminded of his significant historical impact upon our state,” according to Crux.
When Roman Catholics think of a saint, they see visions of a very holy man or woman. Saint Francis of Assisi, perhaps, who led a life of a simple Italian friar and who left a life of privilege and riches for one of austerity, poverty, and prayer. This friar's prayer, or poem, which is called "The Prayer of Saint Francis," is one of the most spoken of all prayers and is a mainstay in the spirituality of many Twelve-Step Recovery fellowships. Perhaps Saint Bernadette would come to mind - who was born into extreme poverty and as a young girl was visited in a grotto by the Mother of Jesus. Roman Catholics need to be informed that Father Junipero Serra marched with Spanish Conquistadors and this candidate for sainthood used the prize of food and shelter - to American Indians - if they conformed and converted to Catholicism. If these poor indigenous left mission grounds, they were punished severely with beatings, floggings, and imprisonment. Ghastly accounts of murder even resulted - making an example out of those who did not comply with the plans of the missionaries or the conquistadors.
Serra's reign was a reign of terror. He was a "great evangelizer" because simply put, he used the tactics of a terrorist or a concentration camp overseer to get his subjugated to conform, comply, and do exactly what they were expected to do.
According to Roman Catholic tradition, a saint must have at least two miracles, but Pope Francis said he is rushing Junipero Serra's canonization by eliminating the need to show proof of two miracles because "the missionary was such a great evangelizer."
By skipping the required two miracles quota, some Roman Catholics might feel the way to becoming a saint has been watered down and corrupted. Is being a saint really such a great big deal anymore? And if Sainthood has been cheapened by the current pope's plan to canonize Serra without the requirement of at least two miracles, what about the sanctity of the true great saints? Like Saint Francis of Assisi? And Christ's apostles? And all the Martyrs? Even the holiness and sanctity of Mary? And Jesus Himself?
And what I'd really like to know is what these people, the holiest of the holy, would say about Junipero Serra's way of evangelizing. I think if the pope got a good earful of what any of these true saints had to say about this upcoming canonization of this murderous monster, Pope Francis might decide that maybe a canonization of Junipero Serra isn't such a prudent thing, after all....
Under the 1917 Code of Canon Law, to become canonized a saint required two, three, or four different miracles, depending on their verifiability. Miracles attested to by eyewitnesses held more weight than those authenticated from hearsay. After beatification, the first step toward sainthood, at least two more miracles were required for canonization.
"This meant that in a given case, it was possible that the Church might require more than six miracles to be documented before a person could be canonized. There was a loophole, though: the former canon 2116.2 specifically noted that if miracles were lacking, the Pope could dispense from the requirement of miracles in such a case," according to a blog entry posted on the Internet by Cathy Caridi, J.C.L., who is an American canon lawyer who practices law and teaches in Rome.
Well, this must be the loophole Pope Francis is using. The Pope plans to canonize Junipero Serra when on a papal trip to the U.S.A. in September. Pope Francis made this announcement in a press conference that lasted about an hour on Jan. 19. According to reports, he made this statement on a trip back to Rome following a week-long trip to Asia.
Miguel Jose Serra was born on the island of Majorca - the largest island in the Balearic Islands archipelago, in Spain - on November 24, 1713. He took the name of Junipero when in 1730, he entered the Franciscan Order of the Roman Catholic Church. He was ordained in 1737, taught philosophy and theology at the University of Padua until 1749, and at the age of 37, landed in Mexico City on January 1, 1750. He spent the rest of his life working for the conversion of the peoples of the New World. In 1768, Father Serra took over the missions of the Jesuits (who had been expelled by the government) in the Mexican province of Lower California and Upper California (now modern day California). Serra has been credited by the Roman Catholic Church with the evangelizing the church's doctrines and way of life on the West Coast. He founded twenty-one missions and "converts were instructed on the missionary's methods of agriculture, cattle raising, and arts and crafts," according to Catholic Online. Junipero Serra died on Aug. 28, 1784. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 25, 1988. The Roman Catholic Church celebrates Junipero Serra's feast day on July 1.
