LOS ANGELES (Courtesy of KMJ's News Partner – CBS Los Angeles) — Controversy is surrounding the announced Sainthood of a man considered to be one of the creators of modern california.
Friar Juniperso Serra is said to have started missions across the Golden State – when he came here in the 1700s.
“It’s a great joy for all of us in California, and in the United States, and, for that matter, for the universal church", says Archbishop Jose Gomez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Professor Steven Hackel says he was one of the state's founders.
“Had Serra not come to California in 1769, certainly other Franciscans would have. But he had the will, the administrative skill, the driving force to establish many missions in California.
“His greatest accomplishments were, in a sense, establishing California as a region, which, in theory, had a common language, a common religion, and was linked together through a series of roads and missions and presidios.”
But he says Native Americans were badly treated at the missions Juniperso Serra established.
“Spanking or some sort of physical aggressiveness that was their way of correcting wayward people. And, of course, in today’s world we would consider that to be unacceptable,” the professor said.
The Friar's sainthood is set to be announced in september – during Pope Francis' visit to the United States.
