Saint Junipero Serra and Those Who Attack him

07-13-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Leonard F. Villa

The feast of St. Junipero Serra was on July 1st. This saint has been attacked by anti-Catholics with a false narrative. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights reported about one such attack: NEW YORK TIMES SMEAR OF ST. SERRA STANDS On September 30, (2020) the New York Times ran a front-page story that smeared St. Junipero Serra. Repeated attempts to have the paper correct the record have failed.

On the day that Laura M. Holson’s news story appeared, “Sainthood of Serra Reopens Wounds of Colonialism in California,” I sent her the following email: You said that “Historians agree” that Fr. Serra had Indians “tortured to death.” I have done research on Serra and written about him, yet I know of no historian who makes such a claim. Please name them. I can name many who never made such a claim. The following day I contacted the “Corrections” section of the paper, as well as the public editor, sending them the above email. I also said, “Ms. Holson has not responded. Assuming she cannot name historians, who have made such a claim, I am requesting that this merit inclusion in the ‘Corrections’ section of the Times.”

One week went by after my email to these two parties, and still no response. Yesterday, I wrote them again, sending the previous emails: “Please let me know if I can expect a correction to Ms. Holson’s story. If her account is accurate, she should be able to name the historians who say that Fr. Serra tortured Indians. This story is particularly important because Pope Francis just canonized Fr. Serra when he was in DC. Thank you.” Another day has passed, and still no reply. This is yellow journalism at its worst. When I submit paid ads to the Times, I am often asked to identify my sources. Yet it accepts hit jobs like Holson’s. The fact is there is no list of historians who claim Fr. Serra tortured Indians, and the Times knows it. We are sending this news release to a wide audience. www.catholicleague.org

Edwin Benson wrote a long essay in defense of St. Junipero against anti-Catholic smears: Elizabeth Bruenig’s New York Times op-ed “A Saint’s Sins ” was a lengthy indictment of the character and actions of Saint Junipero Serra. It is tempting to refer to it as a masterpiece of character assassination, except that it is not masterful. It recycles modernist and old antiCatholic attacks that ignore the historical record and promote a modern narrative of oppression, torture and enslavement of the Indians. She places Saint Junipero among those who participated in the oppression in his efforts to convert the Indian tribes.

By referring to the saint’s “sins,” the author seeks to change the Church’s definition of a saint to fit modern narratives. This attempt runs contrary to the Church teaching that states a saint is someone who practiced heroic sanctity proven by a life that is carefully scrutinized. The Church makes sure the actions, piety and orthodoxy of any future saints are flawless and worth of imitation. The process of canonization used to be extremely rigorous. If any of the charges and “sins” alleged by Mrs. Bruenig were true, he would not be a saint.

The Enviable Record of the California Mission System

Indeed, the contrary was true. Saint Junipero Serra was a selfless and dedicated priest who led a group of Franciscan missionaries into California in 1769, where he remained until his death of tuberculosis in 1784. Even though he was in poor health, he established nine missions. His successors increased that number until there were twenty-one missions in all, stretching out over five hundred miles of the California coast. The mission system had two goals. First and foremost, they sought to bring the Catholic faith to the native Californians. At the same time, these Franciscans were practical men. The full practice of Catholicism requires both education and access to the sacraments. To grow in their new-found faith, the natives settled near the missions.

That necessity led to the second goal, to teach the natives agricultural skills so that they could abandon the miserable nomadic life from which they suffered from disease, hunger, superstition and wars with other tribes. The missions were phenomenally successful, both in spiritual and temporal terms. Tens of thousands of California Indians embraced Christianity, received the sacraments and lived lives of Christian virtue.