WASHINGTON — (CNN) Pope Francis on Wednesday canonized Junipero Serra, a Spanish missionary, a moment of deep pride for Latinos but a source of controversy for many Native Americans.
Serra, who came to California nearly 250 years ago, is the first saint to be canonized on U.S. soil.
“Junipero Serra left his native land and its way of life,” Francis said in his homily during the canonization Mass at Catholic University in Washington. “He was excited about blazing trails, going forth to meet many people, learning and valuing their particular customs and ways of life.”
The Pope praised Serra’s treatment of Native Americans, saying that he “sought to defend the dignity of the native community, to protect it from those who had mistreated and abused it.”
“Mistreatment and wrongs which today still trouble us,” Francis continued, “especially because of the hurt which they cause in the lives of many people.”
The Pope has planned to meet with Native Americans in Washington after the Mass, a Vatican official told CNN’s Delia Gallagher.
But some Native Americans say Serra was no saint.
“We’re stunned and we’re in disbelief,” said Valentin Lopez, 63, chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band located along Monterey Bay in California.
“We believe saints are supposed to be people who followed in the life of Jesus Christ and the words of Jesus Christ. There was no Jesus Christ lifestyle at the missions,” Lopez said, who has campaigned against sainthood for Serra.
Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, though, called the canonization of Serra “the most important dimension of the Pope’s visit” to the United States, which lasts through Sunday.
“This is the big story: The first Hispanic Pope is coming to America to give us our first Hispanic saint. This is not a coincidence,” Gomez said at a news conference last month.
The Rev. Timothy Kesicki, president of the Jesuit Conference in Washington, said many scholars acknowledge Serra’s complicated legacy.
“But I don’t think Pope Francis wants pristine saints,” Kesicki continued, “because then no one will aspire to sainthood.”
Wednesday was the Pope’s first full day in the United States, a trip that will also take him to New York and Philadelphia.
The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2015 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
