VATICAN CITY
Crux
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent April 20, 2015
ROME — Although Pope Francis doesn’t arrive in Washington, DC for his US debut until late September, a Vatican spokesman said Monday the trip will actually begin more than four months earlier when the pontiff visits Rome’s main American seminary May 2.
Francis is heading to the Pontifical North American College (NAC) for a Mass in honor of Junipero Serra, an 18th-century Spanish Franciscan celebrated as the founder of the Church on the West Coast of the United States, but also derided by critics as the “Columbus of California” for his role in decimating the native population.
Francis will formally declare Serra a saint during his American trip, which will take him to DC, New York, and Philadelphia for a Vatican-sponsored meeting of families Sept 23-27. …
It may also be a preview of controversy likely to swirl when Francis canonizes Serra, a Franciscan priest who founded nine missions from San Diego to San Francisco during the 18th century. Native Americans and others claim that he imposed Christianity on the region, wiped out native populations, and enslaved converts to the faith.
During a press conference in Rome Monday, Church officials defined Serra as a man who made mistakes, but also a historical figure who defended natives from Spanish colonizers like no one else.
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