US Bishop decries destruction
of St. Junipero Serra statue
 |
| A statue of St. Junipero Serra in San Gabriel, California (AFP) |
Bishop Jamie Soto criticizes the destruction of the statue
of St. Junipero Serra in Sacramento, California, and urges protesters to build
up the community, not tear it down.
By Devin Watkins
A crowd in Sacramento, California’s state capital, destroyed
a statue of St. Junipero Serra on the evening of 4 July.
One protester burnt the statue’s face, before the group
toppled the statue and struck it with a sledgehammer. Local news outlets
reported that the crowd chanted, “Rise up, my people, rise up” as they jumped
and danced on the Saint’s image.
California Highway Police intervened to disperse the group,
and has launched an investigation.
Dialogue over vandalism
Bishop Jamie Soto of Sacramento responded to the act of
vandalism with a statement on Sunday.
“The group’s actions may have been meant to draw attention
to the sorrowful, angry memories over California’s past, but this act of
vandalism does little to build the future,” he said.
The Bishop added that the “strenuous labor of overcoming the
plague of racism should not be toppled by nocturnal looting.”
“Dialogue,” he said, “should not abdicate to vandalism.”
Who was Fr. Serra?
St. Junipero Serra was a Catholic missionary priest from
Spain (1713-1784) who belonged to the Franciscan Order.
He founded several Spanish missions in California, helping
to convert thousands of Native Americans to Christianity and introducing new
agricultural techniques.
Pope Francis canonized Fr. Serra on 25 September 2015 in
Washington D.C., during his Apostolic Journey to the United States.
Some have criticized the Saint’s legacy and called him a
symbol of European colonialists.
Denouncing evils of colonial period
Bishop Soto recognized the “heartbreaking legacy” of the
colonial period.
“There is no question that California’s indigenous people
endured great suffering during the colonial period and then later faced the
horror of government-sanctioned genocide under the nascent State of
California.”
At the same time, Bishop Soto said Fr. Serra worked under
the colonial system but “denounced its evils and worked to protect the dignity
of native peoples.”
“His holiness as a missionary should not be measured by his
own failures to stop the exploitation or even his own personal faults,” he
said.
Build community, not tearing it down
The Sacramento statue of St. Serra is the third to be torn
down in California by demonstrators in recent weeks.
One was toppled in San Francisco and another in Los Angeles,
both on 19 June.
“All monuments are imperfect as are our efforts to live up
to America’s founding ideals,” concluded Bishop Soto. “The primary task is to
build up our community, not tear it down.”
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