Catholics to California Governor: Don’t Back False Claims About St. Junípero Serra

If Gov. Gavin Newsom signs A.B. 338, it would remove the legal statute that requires a statue of Junípero Serra to be maintained on the capitol grounds and instead require a monument to Native Americans. Several Catholic leaders say the errors shouldn’t stand amid debate about statues of the pioneering Spanish Franciscan missionary.

Misleading claims about St. Junípero Serra have made their way into a bill sent to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, drawing concerns and objections from several Catholic leaders who say the errors shouldn’t stand amid debate about statues of the pioneering Spanish Franciscan missionary.

After vandals knocked down a decades-old statue of Serra on the grounds of the California Capitol last year, the Democratic-controlled California Legislature passed a bill to remove a place for the Franciscan missionary saint and instead place a Native American statue on the grounds.

“The California Catholic Conference supports the intention of A.B. 338 to create a monument that represents and honors the Native peoples of California,” Kathleen Domingo, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, told CNA Sept. 3. “We recognize the immense contributions of the Native peoples and the terrible hardships they have endured. The support for our Native peoples need not come at the cost of spreading false information about St. Junípero Serra.”

However, the Catholic conference said it “strongly objects” to the legislature’s findings presented in the bill about St. Junípero Serra and the mission system.

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