Junípero Serra

Spanish priest

• Born: November 24, 1713
• Birthplace: Petra, Mallorca, Spain
• Died: August 28, 1784
• Place of death: Carmel, California, New Spain (now in United States)

A highly respected Catholic missionary, Serra supervised the founding of the first nine missions in California. His involvement in the conquest and cruel treatment of American Indians, however, has led to great controversy concerning his suitability for sainthood.

Early Life

Junípero Serra (hoo-NEE-pay-roh SEHR-rah) was born on the Spanish island of Mallorca in 1713, the son of Antonio Serra and Margarita Serra, poor farmers without formal education. Some of his ancestors were conversos, or Jews who had been forcibly converted to Christianity. He attended the local elementary school taught by Franciscan friars, where he decided at a young age to join their religious order. His baptismal name was Miguel José, but when he joined the Franciscan order at the age of sixteen he took the name Junípero in honor of Saint Francis of Assissi’s companion, known for humility and compassion. While studying for the priesthood in Palma de Mallorca, Serra earned a reputation for oratorical excellence and personal piety.

Following ordination in 1738, Serra earned a doctorate in theology at Lullian University in Palma, where he was appointed to the John Duns Scotus chair of philosophy in 1744. Five years later, at the age of thirty-five, he decided to give up his secure and prestigious position to devote his life to missionary activities in the New World. Like other committed clerics of the century, he firmly believed that converting pagans to Christianity was the noblest of endeavors and was influenced by the tradition of Franciscan mysticism, which valued suffering as the path to spiritual enlightenment.

Life’s Work

After receiving permission to become a missionary, Serra sailed to Mexico in 1749. En route, he preached his first sermon as a missionary at San Juan, Puerto Rico. Arriving in Mexico City, he spent several months at the Franciscan College of San Fernando. Beginning in 1750 he worked for eight years as a missionary among the Palmés Indians in the Sierra Gorda region north of Mexico City. He learned to speak the local language and helped to build a large stone church in the town of Jalpán. In 1758 he was assigned to the Mexican capital, where he served as administrator of the College of San Fernando while also assuming the duties of a traveling missionary priest.

In 1767, when King Charles III of Spain expelled the Jesuits from Spain and its colonies, the Spanish government requested the Franciscan friars take over the missions in Baja (lower) California. Hoping to stop Russian expansion southward along the Pacific coast, the government also charged the Franciscans with the task of founding missions in Alta (upper) California. Serra was selected to serve as presidente (or chief administrator) of both projects, with his headquarters located at Loreto.

In 1769, when General José de Gálvez, inspector general of New Spain (now Mexico), ordered the military invasion of Alta California, Serra personally accompanied the troops of Don Gaspar de Portolá, the governor of California who commanded the so-called Sacred Expedition to establish Franciscan missions in Alta California. Serra was fifty-five years old and in very poor health, having long suffered from an ulcerated leg and foot. Some historians think his health had been damaged by his practice of self-mortification, which consisted of flogging his back with a whip, beating his breast with a stone, and burning his flesh with candles. Whatever the reasons, Serra had to be lifted onto the saddle of his horse. His friend and biographer, Francisco Pálou, observed Serra’s frail condition and tried to discourage him from making the arduous journey, but Serra rebuked his friend for a lack of faith in divine providence.

Serra founded the first mission in Alta California, located in what is now the city of San Diego, on July 16, 1769. In June, 1770, he established a second mission at Carmel, San Carlos Borromeo, which henceforth served as his permanent headquarters. Of the twenty-one missions that the Franciscans founded in California, Serra was directly responsible for nine, including San Antonio de Padua (1771), San Gabriel Arcángel (1771), San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (1772), San Francisco de Asís (1776), San Juan Capistrano (1776), Santa Clara de Asís (1777), and San Buenaventura (1782). By the time of his death the mission system comprised about five thousand American Indians from at least six linguistic stocks, more than thirty-five friars, and approximately five hundred settlers and soldiers.

The missions were separated from each other by about a day’s trip on horseback. Serra personally visited each mission several times, often performing baptisms and confirmations. He walked thousands of miles, although at times he traveled by mule, carriage, or packet boat. He usually traveled with a page, sometimes accompanied by military escort. While his main objective was to “prepare souls for heaven,” he understood that conversion would not be permanent unless Indians acquired the means to earn their livelihood. In addition to religious instruction, therefore, the Franciscan friars did their best to teach methods of European agriculture and construction as well as other practical skills. The missions operated as miniature empires with farming as the principal industry. American Indian families within the compound were assigned small apartments, and the friars supervised their work schedules.

Serra’s critics usually concede that he desired the well-being of the American Indians under his jurisdiction. He frequently came into conflict with political and military officials over issues of rightful payment for labor and proper punishment. He particularly denounced Spanish soldiers for raping indigenous women. In 1773 he presented Viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli de Ursúa, the highest Spanish official in Mexico, with a representación containing thirty-two points for increasing the protection of Indians. Bucareli accepted most of the suggestions and incorporated them into California’s regulatory code. Serra, however, shared the typical biases of the time, looking upon the Indians as childlike and in need of strict discipline. In several of his letters he instructed his friars about the necessity of using corporal punishment when confronted with disobedience or rebellion.

Despite his deteriorating health, Serra continued to work until his death at the age of seventy in his headquarters on the Carmel River.

Significance

In 1931, a statue of Father Serra, representing the state of California, was placed in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Still, Serra is a controversial figure. His admirers look upon him as a holy man worthy of canonization, and Franciscan leaders in California recommended him as a candidate for sainthood. In 1985, the first hurdle in the three-stage process of canonization was passed when the pope named Serra “venerable,” meaning that his life met the Catholic standards of “heroic virtue.” Proponents of his sainthood maintain that he converted many American Indians to Christianity and, with his fellow Franciscans, educated and improved the life conditions of indigenous peoples. Detractors, on the other hand, denounce Serra for his active involvement in a brutal conquest that decimated the American Indian population and destroyed much of American Indian culture.

One of the major issues in this debate is whether Serra should be judged by eighteenth century standards or by modern conceptions of human rights. Despite strong protests by American Indians and others, he was beatified in 1988, but years later, in the early twenty-first century, it remains unclear whether he would ever be proclaimed a saint.

Regardless of one’s conclusions, it is impossible to deny that Serra played an important role in the early history of California. He will always be remembered as the founder of the first mission in California, San Diego de Alcalá, which became the basis for the development of the first permanent European settlement in the province. It is impossible to understand the Spanish Empire in the New World without considering the work and ideas of missionaries such as Serra.

Bibliography

Cook, Sherburne. The Conflict Between the California Indian and White Civilization. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976. Polemical but scholarly essays emphasizing the thesis of biological conquest, while also criticizing Serra and other missionaries for using excessive cruelty in punishing American Indians.

Costo, Rupert, and Jeanneatte Costo, eds. The Missions of California: A Legacy of Genocide. San Francisco, Calif.: Indian History Press, 1987. Collection of passionately written articles opposing Serra’s canonization, edited by California Indian activists.

DeNevi, Don, and Noel Moholy. Junípero Serra. San Francisco, Calif.: Harper & Row, 1987. Scholarly biography that is highly favorable to both Serra and his religious beliefs.

Fogel, Daniel. Junípero Serra, the Vatican, and Enslavement Theology. New York: Ism Press, 1996. Fogel’s criticisms of Serra reflect a strong animus against traditional Catholic beliefs and practices.

Geiger, Maynard. The Life and Times of Junípero Serra. 2 vols. Monterrey, Mexico: Siempre Adelante, 1959. Detailed biography written by an admiring Franciscan scholar who devoted many years to the subject.

Morgado, Martin. Junípero Serra: A Pictorial Biography. Monterrey, Mexico: Siempre Adelante, 1991. A short account with many beautiful illustrations of buildings and artifacts.

Pálou, Francisco. Life of Fray Junípero Serra. Translated by Maynard Geiger. Washington, D.C.: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1955. Hagiographic biography written by Serra’s good friend and fellow Franciscan missionary.

Sandos, James. “Junípero Serra’s Canonization and the Historical Record.” American Historical Review 93 (1988): 1253-1269. Analyzing the historical evidence, Sandos concludes that despite Serra’s sincere love for the American Indians, he probably was responsible for excessive punishment and other abuses.

Tibesar, Antonine, ed. Writings of Junípero Serra. 4 vols. Washington, D.C.: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1955-1966. Dealing almost exclusively with mission affairs, these factual reports, instructions, and commentaries provide much insight into his character.

Tinker, George. Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native Americas Cultural Genocide. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 1993. Written by a Cherokee Lutheran theologian, the book examines Serra and three other respected missionaries, arguing that they inadvertently did great harm to American Indians and their cultures.