24, September 2015 Response to NYT Op Ed re: Visit of Pope
Francis
Pope Francis’s humility and words of love and
compassion are certainly welcome. But his decision to honor the 18th century
Spanish missionary, Junípero Serra, remains a mystery.
According to historian Alvin Josephy, thousands
of native Indians perished after the missionaries arrived on what he described
as genocide. Soldiers were employed to kidnap children and when their parents
came looking for them they too were captured and used as slaves. Escapees would
be severely punished. Fathers and mothers would be separated from their
children. The women were separately housed and used as sex slaves by the
soldiers. Living conditions were appalling and an epidemic of disease would
result in the death of thousands. Over150,000 California Indians died under the
system that Junípero Serra developed.
Serra justified the savage beatings as a small
price to pay for the joy of moving Indians out of their ‘dark past’ to become
‘enlightened Christians’.
To canonize Junípero Serra, would be an affront
to native Indians and a terrible stain on Pope Francis’s legacy. In keeping
with his laudable messages of love and compassion, Pope Francis should assuage
the sentiments of native Indians by seeking their forgiveness for the appalling
crimes committed by Junípero Serra.
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