Junípero Serra

Junípero Serra Ferrer, known as Junipero Serra, was a Spanish Catholic priest and missionary. He belonged to the Franciscan Order. He was born on November 24, 1713, and died on August 28, 1784.

Serra is famous for founding many missions along the coast of California, from San Diego to San Francisco. He first started by creating the Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He also founded a mission in Baja California. Later, he helped create eight of the 21 Spanish missions in California in Alta California.

Because of his work, Serra was called the "Apostle of California". In 1988, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II. In 2015, Pope Francis officially made him a saint during a visit to the United States. Some Native American groups felt that his actions caused them sadness.

Early life

Serra was born Miquel Josep Serra i Ferrer in the village of Petra on the island of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands near Spain. As a boy, he helped his family in the fields and loved the local Franciscan church. He learned reading, writing, and other subjects at the church school.

At 16, Miquel started studying at a Franciscan school in Palma de Majorca. At 17, he joined the Franciscan Order and took the name Junípero. He spent years studying to become a priest, learning subjects like philosophy and theology. In 1737, Serra became a priest and later taught philosophy to other students.

Ministry in the Americas

In 1749, Serra and other Franciscan missionaries arrived in Veracruz on the Gulf coast of New Spain, which is now Mexico. Instead of riding horses, Serra walked to Mexico City, following the rules of his religious order. He faced many challenges, including a painful foot injury.

Serra joined other Franciscan missionaries at the College of San Fernando de Mexico in Mexico City. He worked hard to help local communities by teaching them new skills and supporting their farming. He traveled to different areas to guide and support people in their faith.

Serra showed great dedication in his work. He helped build churches and worked closely with local people to create a sense of community and support. His efforts were important in spreading the missions and helping people live together in new ways.

President of missions of the Californias

When the Jesuits left Mexico, Franciscan missionaries took over. In July 1767, Junípero Serra became president of the missions of Baja California. He led 15 Franciscan friars. Jesuit priests had set up 13 missions there, but two missions were lost in an uprising by local people in 1734–36.

In March 1768, Serra and his team sailed from San Blas on Mexico’s Pacific coast. They landed at Loreto two weeks later. Governor Gaspar de Portolá welcomed them. Serra was in charge of spiritual matters, but the military handled daily work at the missions.

By 1772, the local population had decreased because of diseases brought by Spanish troops. Serra and his team then moved north to start missions in Alta California. They wanted to share the Catholic faith with local people and support Spain’s interests in the area.

Serra had health problems but stayed strong. He started Mission Velicatá in 1769 and later arrived in San Diego, where he founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Even with tensions with local groups, Serra kept starting missions along the coast, including Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Monterey. His work helped spread the Catholic faith and support Spanish control in the area.

Treatment of Native Californians

Further information: Spanish missions in California

Father Junípero Serra wanted to help the native people of California. He thought teaching them about his faith was important. He also tried to protect them from unfair treatment by soldiers. However, some people today feel his actions were not fair to native cultures.

Some statues of Serra have been removed or damaged by people who disagree with how he treated native people. These actions happened during times of strong feelings about history.

Some native people still support Serra and believe he helped their communities. Others feel his actions hurt their cultures. This difference in views continues to be discussed today.

Death

In the last three years of his life, Junípero Serra traveled over 600 miles to visit missions from San Diego to San Francisco. He met many people who had joined the missions. Even with pain in his leg and chest, he kept working without medicine.

Junípero Serra died on August 28, 1784, at age 70, at Mission San Carlos Borromeo. He is buried there under the sanctuary. After he died, another priest named Fermín Lasuén took care of the missions in Alta California.

Veneration

In 1951, the process to honor Junípero Serra began. In 1988, Pope John Paul II recognized his holy life. In 2015, Pope Francis named him a saint during a visit to the United States. Many people admire Junípero Serra for his mission work. His special day is celebrated on July 1 in the United States and on August 28 everywhere. He is a special protector for California, Hispanic Americans, and those who want to serve others with faith.

The mission in Carmel, California, where Serra is buried, is a place where people come to honor him. You can see parts of his old coffin and some of his personal items in the mission museums.

Legacy

Many of Junípero Serra's letters and documents still exist today. One diary, called his "Diario", tells about his trip from Loreto to San Diego. It was published in a magazine called Out West between March and June 1902.

The Junípero Serra Collection is kept at the Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library. It has early materials from the years 1713 to 1947. This library is part of the Mission Santa Barbara buildings but works separately as a place to learn and study. It stays connected to the Franciscan community and Serra's history.

The chapel at Mission San Juan Capistrano, built in 1782, is one of the oldest buildings still standing in California. It is often called "Father Serra's Church" because it is the only church where Serra led Catholic services. He gave confirmations to 213 people there on October 12 and 13, 1783.

Many cities in California have streets, schools, and places named after Serra. Examples include Junipero Serra Boulevard in San Francisco; Serramonte, a neighborhood in Daly City and Colma; Serra Springs in Los Angeles; Serra Mesa in San Diego; and Junipero Serra Peak, the tallest mountain in the Santa Lucia Mountains. Schools named after him include Junípero Serra High School in San Diego (renamed Canyon Hills High School in 2021) and several other Catholic high schools in Gardena, San Mateo, San Juan Capistrano, and McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Public elementary schools in San Francisco and Ventura also carry his name, along with a K-8 Catholic school in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Both Spain and the United States have made postage stamps to honor Serra.

In 1884, the California Legislature made August 29 a holiday to remember the 100th anniversary of Serra's burial.

Serra International, a worldwide group that supports people wanting to join the Catholic Church, was named after him. It was started in 1935 and has about 20,000 members in 44 countries and over 1,000 chapters.

Serra's actions toward Native Americans have been talked about a lot in recent years, especially in the Los Angeles area. In February 2015, the Mexica Movement, a group working for indigenous rights, protested Serra's recognition at the Los Angeles Cathedral. In 2018, a Spanish producer made an animated film called The call of Junipero about his life and work.

In 2019, Stanford University changed the names of two buildings that were previously named after Serra, because of the history of how the mission system treated Native Americans.

Statuary and monuments

See also: List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests § Junípero Serra

• A statue of Junípero Serra represents California in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol. There have been talks about replacing it with a statue of astronaut Sally Ride.
• The statue of Serra in Ventura, California, which stood in front of Ventura City Hall from 1936 to 2020, was moved to storage after leaders agreed.
• The Douglas Tilden statue of Serra in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco was taken down during a protest on June 19, 2020.
• A granite monument to Serra in Monterey, put up in 1891, had its figure damaged in 2015 but the missing piece was found in 2016.
• When Interstate 280 was built in the 1960s from Daly City to San Jose, it was named the Junipero Serra Freeway. A statue of Serra once stood on a hill along the freeway in Hillsborough, California.
• The statue of Serra at Mission Santa Barbara was damaged in 2017, as was the statue at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel.
• A bronze statue of Serra in the California State Capitol's Capitol Park was taken down by protestors on July 4, 2020.
• Statues or monuments to Serra can still be found at several mission churches, including Mission Dolores in San Francisco and Mission Santa Barbara. A statue near the San Fernando Mission in Los Angeles was damaged in 2017.

In popular culture

Fiction

The famous writer Robert A. Heinlein wrote a story called Lost Legacy. This story came out in November 1941 in a magazine named Super Science Stories, edited by Frederick Pohl. In the story, Serra finds a hidden collection of old knowledge on Mt. Shasta. The story also features Ambrose Bierce, a well-known writer who went missing later.