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Tag: Junipero Serra

Statue of Father Serra in DC

Junipero Serra: Left Leaves Native, Black Latinos Behind for Pope Francis

The canonization of Fray Junipero Serra should have been a rallying cry for the Left. Pope Francis has given America its first saint–a man who dedicated his life to bringing Christianity to the native peoples of California. Many Native Americans see Serra as a conquerer who used violence to impose a religion. They have, selectively, spoken up, but the silence on the part of mainstream left media and white liberals is deafening.

Junipero Serra Capitol Rotunda (Jim Watson / AFP / Getty)

Jerry Brown: Keep Junipero Serra Statue in U.S. Capitol

This week, Gov. Jerry Brown, who was once a Jesuit seminarian, asserted that he will block California legislators from attempting to replace the statue of Father Junípero Serra in the National Statuary Hall Collection on Capitol Hill with a statue of astronaut Sally Ride.

Junipero Serra (Reuters)

Gov. Brown Wants Papal Climate Change Support–While Dumping Junipero Serra

California Governor Jerry Brown will take his utopian foreign policy to the Vatican to participate this week in an environmental summit hosted by Pope Francis. Despite California’s majority Democrats’ intention to banish celebrations of Catholic missionary Father Junipero Serra’s accomplishments, Brown will carry a state resolution supporting Pope Francis’ recent draft “Encyclical on Climate Change.”

Ron Sachs/CNP/Corbis/APImages

California State Senate Votes to Replace Serra Statue with Sally Ride

A largely partisan state Senate debate between Democrats and Republicans ended Monday with a decision to replace the statue of Father Junipero Serra in Washington, D.C.’s National Statuary Hall Collection with a statue of NASA astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space and an acknowledged lesbian. The resolution needed 21 votes to pass; the final tally was 22-10.

Junipero Serra (Reuters)

Francis to Canonize Junipero Serra; Hero or Villain?

The question of whether to canonize or not to canonize Father Junipero Serra has raged now that Pope Francis has decided to nominate Serra for sainthood. The dichotomy among Californians triggered by Serra’s nomination springs from significantly different viewpoints.