- Feb 5, 2002
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NEW YORK – An historic California mission founded by the controversial St. Junípero Serra has announced that a bronze statue of the saint, removed in 2020 from the local city hall amid protests over Serra’s legacy, will be installed at the mission later this month, as work on its concrete base has already begun.
Serra, an 18th century Franciscan priest who founded nine missions in California, is considered a founding father of Catholicism on the West Coast. However, his legacy has also drawn fire from critics over the years who argue that he lent spiritual cover to the abuses of European colonialism against Native Americans.
Serra’s defenders have argued that the missionary did everything he could to protect people under his care, claiming today’s criticism is unjustified and anachronistic.
In 2020, the Ventura City Council unanimously approved a motion to permanently remove two statues of Serra from its San Buenaventura City Hall. One is a 9’-3” bronze piece that was located outside of city hall, while the other, which was located in the atrium, was a wooden replica put in the other place while the original was repaired in the early 1980s.
Continued below.
cruxnow.com
Serra, an 18th century Franciscan priest who founded nine missions in California, is considered a founding father of Catholicism on the West Coast. However, his legacy has also drawn fire from critics over the years who argue that he lent spiritual cover to the abuses of European colonialism against Native Americans.
Serra’s defenders have argued that the missionary did everything he could to protect people under his care, claiming today’s criticism is unjustified and anachronistic.
In 2020, the Ventura City Council unanimously approved a motion to permanently remove two statues of Serra from its San Buenaventura City Hall. One is a 9’-3” bronze piece that was located outside of city hall, while the other, which was located in the atrium, was a wooden replica put in the other place while the original was repaired in the early 1980s.
Continued below.
After being removed from City Hall, Serra statue welcomed at mission church
A statue of Saint Junípero Serra that was removed from outside of the San Buenaventura City Hall in Ventura, California, about four years ago will soon be on display again, this time outside of the last California mission Serra founded in 1782.
