Saint Junipero Serra statue toppled in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA.
Posted on 06/23/2020 3:56:32 PM PDT by ebb tide
Saint Junipero Serra statue toppled in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA.
PETITION: Urge U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference to defend Catholic heritage and statues! Sign the petition here.
SACRAMENTO, California, June 23, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The bishops of California have issued a carefully worded statement on June 22 expressing their disapproval of the tearing down of several statues of St. Junipero Serra, who was canonized by Pope Francis in 2015.
The bishops failed to condemn tearing down the statue of a Catholic saint who made heroic sacrifices to advance the welfare of the indigenous people of California. They only asked that for this process of tearing down statues is “to be truly effective as a remedy for racism, it must discern carefully the entire contribution that the historical figure in question made to American life, especially in advancing the rights of marginalized peoples.”
In other words, as long as this criterion is met, tearing down a statue, and thus destroying public or private property, could be justified, according to the bishops of California, which includes the current president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles.
The bishops did not distinguish between the mob destruction of a statue and its removal after a political debate, where both sides make their case, and elected officials then make a decision.
Regarding the statues of St. Junipero Serra, “protesters have failed that test” of discerning “carefully the entire contribution that the historical figure in question made to American life,” the bishops pointed out.
In recent days, rioters have pulled down and desecrated statues of St. Junipero Serra in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, after local authorities in Los Angeles approved the removal of another of his statues outside Ventura City Hall.
Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported that Ventura Mayor Matt LaVere, along with representatives from the Barbareño/Venureño Band of Mission Indians and Father Tom Elewaut, a Catholic priest based at the San Buenaventura Mission in Ventura, had issued a joint statement agreeing to take down the statue of Serra outside Ventura City Hall and have it “moved to a more appropriate non-public location.”
On Saturday, 100 people reportedly helped to topple a statue of the missionary saint with ropes on Olvera Street in Los Angeles. In a video of the incident, one participant can be heard saying “this is for our ancestors” as the statue came crashing down.
In Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, activists pulled down another statue of St. Junipero Serra. A video of the incident shows those in attendance cheering as the statue is toppled. One person can be seen hitting the statue with their fists and another person hitting it with a skateboard once it has fallen to the ground.
The careful statement of the California bishops was praised by Bishop Robert Barron, an auxiliary bishop for Los Angeles.
“Friends, I am very grateful to share this statement of the Bishops of California regarding the removal and destruction of statues of St. Junipero Serra,” Barron tweeted. “I have been advocating for this statement for the last several days and encourage you to share it with others.”
The bishops’ statement referred to another statement from June 20, made by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.
He asked, “What is happening to our society?”
“A renewed national movement to heal memories and correct the injustices of racism and police brutality in our country has been hijacked by some into a movement of violence, looting and vandalism,” Cordileone continued, spelling out what happened during many of the protests.
Tearing down the statue of Junipero Serra “was mob rule,” the archbishop said, “a troubling phenomenon that seems to be repeating itself throughout the country.”
“Our dear city bears the name of one of history’s most iconic figures of peace and goodwill: St. Francis of Assisi,” Cordileone explained. “For the past 800 years, the various Franciscan orders of brothers, sisters and priests that trace their inspiration back to him have been exemplary of not only serving, but identifying with, the poor and downtrodden and giving them their rightful dignity as children of God. St. Junipero Serra is no exception.”
The Archbishop of San Francisco went on to briefly recount the saint’s achievement in his life. This section was later quoted by the statement of the California bishops.
“St. Serra made heroic sacrifices to protect the indigenous people of California from their Spanish conquerors, especially the soldiers,” Cordileone wrote. “Even with his infirmed leg which caused him such pain, he walked all the way to Mexico City to obtain special faculties of governance from the Viceroy of Spain in order to discipline the military who were abusing the Indians. And then he walked back to California.”
“And lest there be any doubt, we have a physical reminder to this day: everywhere there is a presidio (soldiers’ barracks) associated with a mission in the chain of 21 missions that he founded, the presidio is miles away from the mission itself and the school,” he pointed out.
“St. Junipero Serra also offered them the best thing he had: the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ, which he and his fellow Franciscan friars did through education, health care, and training in the agrarian arts.”
Msgr. Francis Weber, a former archivist for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and author of several works on St. Junipero Serra, said in 2019, “Serra is one of the great heroes of California, and a great exemplar for young people. He was an outstanding person.”
“The Native Americans had no formal education, and the missionaries’ idea was to bring them to the missions, [introduce them to] agriculture and raise cattle and other livestock,” Weber said.
He emphasized that the saint did not mistreat any native Americans. “There’s no single recorded example in the official documentation of the period that Serra mistreated the Native Americans … in fact, he walked all the way to Mexico City to get a bill of rights issued for them. He was a great man all around.”
The memory of St. Junipero Serra has been under attack for years now.
In 2015, two state legislatures in California proposed to remove his statue from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and replace it with that of homosexual astronaut Sally Ride.
In 2017, two statues of St. Junipero Serra in California were vandalized. One was beheaded, the other had the word “murder” written on it.
Archbishop Cordileone admitted that “historical wrongs have occurred, even by people of good will, and healing of memories and reparation is much needed.”
At the same time, “just as historical wrongs cannot be righted by keeping them hidden, neither can they be righted by re-writing the history. Anger against injustice can be a healthy response when it is that righteous indignation which moves a society forward. But as Christ himself teaches, and St. Francis modeled, love and not rage is the only answer.”
LifeSiteNews has launched a petition urging the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops “to issue a statement rebuking the wanton destruction of statues of Catholic cultural and religious saints and heroes.”
The petition has been signed by more than 12,000 people so far. Readers may click here to support the petition.
Ping
It’s depressing.
There are a hell of a lot of other statues the RC church has that can come down Bishops. Being weak now isn’t going to help.
Unfortunately, the left has infiltrated and seized control of almost everything in this country, from schools to churches to corporations. Just as bad, if not worse, is the craven cowardice displayed by almost every republican politician. Has any of them spoken out against the domestic terrorism being played out on our streets over the last month?
Starts from the wrong premise: it was never a movement to correct injustices, it was a Maoist operation from its inception using Floyd's death as a pretext.
I would have been surprised by any other response.
What a weak, despicable, pathetic organization the catholic church has become!
The bishops failed to condemn tearing down the statue of a Catholic saint who made heroic sacrifices to advance the welfare of the indigenous people of California. They only asked that for this process of tearing down statues is “to be truly effective as a remedy for racism, it must discern carefully the entire contribution that the historical figure in question made to American life, especially in advancing the rights of marginalized peoples.”
In other words, as long as this criterion is met, tearing down a statue, and thus destroying public or private property, could be justified, according to the bishops of California, which includes the current president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles.
The bishops did not distinguish between the mob destruction of a statue and its removal after a political debate, where both sides make their case, and elected officials then make a decision.
Regarding the statues of St. Junipero Serra, “protesters have failed that test” of discerning “carefully the entire contribution that the historical figure in question made to American life,” the bishops pointed out.
They fail to address the concept, that mobs should not be tearing down statues in the first place. They shouldn’t be destroying property in the first place. How do you discern the historic legacy of someone and have that conversation with a mob??? I hope that these guys aren’t so naive as to think they could have had such a discussion when the mob is there to tear down a statue.
WTF do I have to SIGN A PLEDGE to get my BISHOPS to STAND UP!!! OMG!!
He didn’t diddle any boys so he wasn’t all that important to them anyways
It does not matter the reason or the cause. It’s destruction of public or private property.
Even if it should have been taken down (not saying it should have), there was democratic means to trying to achieve that. The statue toppling “protesters” are no more than riotous vigilantes pretending there is no authority on the matter outside of their own opinion.
Who is much worse than the statue toppling protesters?
The Catholic bishops.
Can they courageously pick it up, brush it off, remove the scars and put it INSIDE of their church compound? Can they put up a fence, and call it private property and make it a crime to deface, plunder or destroy their property? I have done a LOT of study of Fr, Junipero Serra, he was a man of Peace, and people have no idea how he labored, to defend the rights of peaceful citizens who followed his way of The Cross. Six times he walked to Mexico City from his California missions complaining how the military mistreted his parishoners. And THAT with a foot that we partially crippled.
Are there any statutes of the Father of modern day Pentecostalism William J. Seymour in Los Angeles near Azusa Street?
Junipero Serra is celebrated in art all over Central California. Look for lots more of this to occur. Every Mission in California will be a target.
Serra founded these missions: San Diego (1769); San Carlos Borromeo or Carmel Mission (1770); San Antonio de Padua (1771); San Gabriel Arcangel (1771); Mission San Luis Obispo (1772); San Francisco de Asis (1776); San Juan Capistrano (1776); Santa Clara de Asis (1777); San Buenaventura (1782).
The mission headquarters was the Carmel Mission in Carmel, CA. He died at age 70 i 1784 at the Carmel Mission and is buried in the sanctuary of Mission Carmel. I would expect this to be a prime target. I doubt there are any defenses set up there. How long before this escalates from toppling statues to bombing sacred national sites?
Below is a statue of Serra at Mission San Miguel.
This monument below indicates the landing spot in Monterey, CA of the expedition of Junipero Serra and Gaspar de Portola in 1769. It can be found at the intersection of Artillery and Pacific at one of the entrances of the Presidio of Monterey. The U.S. Army Garrison Presidio of Monterey now occupies this presidio whose founding dates back to that landing.
The California tribes were basically running around naked, throwing sticks at rabbits, and being eaten by grizzly bears before the Spanish came.
THE SPONSORS AND FINANCIAL SUPPORTERS/BACKERS OF BLM AND OTHER RIORTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR DESTRUCTION OF PRIVATE AND GOVERNMENT PROPERTY SHOULD PROVIDE FINANCIAL REMUNERATION FOR THEIR ACTIVITIES. SOROS AND THE OTHER SUPPORTERS SHOULD PAY IN FULL FOR THE RIOTERS ACTIVITIES OF LOOTING AND BURNING. PAY UP OR GO TO JAIL. WHERE ARE THE AMBULANCE CHASERS?
Thank-you for the informative post!
Too much Lamb of God and not enough Lion of Judah.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.