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Saint Junipero Serra

Priest

Feast Day
July 1
Life
1713–1784
Canonized
2015
Order
Order of Friars Minor (OFM)
Born
Petra, Mallorca, Spain

Saint Junipero Serra was born Miquel Josep Serra at Petra on the island of Mallorca on November 24, 1713. He entered the Order of Friars Minor at Palma in 1730, taking the religious name Junipero after a companion of Saint Francis. He earned a doctorate in theology and held the Duns Scotus chair of philosophy at the Lullian University of Palma until 1749, when he sailed for the missions of New Spain.

After nine years among the Pame Indians of the Sierra Gorda in central Mexico, Serra was appointed Father President of the Franciscan missions of Alta California in 1767, succeeding the expelled Jesuits at the request of the Spanish crown. From 1769 until his death he founded nine of the twenty-one California missions, beginning with San Diego de Alcala (July 16, 1769) and including San Carlos Borromeo at Carmel (1770), San Antonio de Padua (1771), San Gabriel (1771), San Luis Obispo (1772), San Francisco de Asis (1776), San Juan Capistrano (1776), Santa Clara (1777), and San Buenaventura (1782).

He undertook the journey to Mexico City in 1773 to defend mission Indians against the abuses of soldiers and colonial officials, securing from Viceroy Bucareli the Reglamento Provisional, the first body of law protecting native peoples in Alta California. He died at Mission San Carlos Borromeo on August 28, 1784, and is buried beneath its sanctuary.

Pope Saint John Paul II beatified him at Saint Peter's on September 25, 1988. Pope Francis canonized him at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on September 23, 2015, the first canonization on United States soil.

In his canonization homily Pope Francis called Serra "the embodiment of a Church which goes forth" and praised his motto, Siempre adelante (always forward). The U.S. Optional Memorial on July 1 honors his evangelization of California and his defense of the rights of the indigenous peoples he served. Pope Francis observed that Serra "sought to defend the dignity of the native community, to protect it from those who had mistreated and abused it."

Patronages

California · Hispanic Americans · vocations

Catholic Churches Named After Saint Junipero Serra

3 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Junipero Serra's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:

Sources