Junipero Serra

Junípero Serra , 1713-84, Spanish Franciscan missionary in North America, b. Majorca. His name was originally Miguel José Serra, and Junípero was his name in religion. For 15 years he taught philosophy in the college at Palma. In 1749 he was sent to America with Francisco Palou, his lifelong friend and biographer, and proceeded to Mexico City, where he taught briefly at the College of San Fernando. For three years he worked successfully among the Native Americans of the Sierra Gorda and then returned to Mexico City for seven more years, working half of each year in the surrounding villages. His passionate preaching and stern asceticism won him a large and respectful following. It was at this time that his self-mortification began and that legends began to grow up about him. In 1769, Serra went with the second expedition to California, which was commanded by Gaspar de Portolá. When the party reached San Diego, Serra remained to found (1769) the mission there, while most of the rest of the party went on in search of the harbor of Monterey. When they returned unsuccessful, Serra was one of those responsible for the sending of another expedition, which he accompanied. When Monterey was reached and the mission San Carlos Barromeo founded (1770), Serra remained there as president of Alta California missions; in 1771 he moved the mission to Carmel-by-the-Sea, which became his headquarters for the rest of his days. Under his presidency were founded the missions San Antonio de Padua (1771), San Gabriel Arcángel (1771), San Luis Obispo (1772), San Juan Capistrano (1776), San Francisco de Asís (1776), Santa Clara de Asís (1777), and San Buenaventura (1782). The source material on Father Serra is chiefly in Francisco Palou's Life and Apostolic Labors of the Venerable Father Junípero Serra (tr. 1958) and The Founding of the First California Missions under the Spiritual Guidance of the Venerable Padre Fray Junípero Serra (tr. 1934).

Bibliography: See biographies by T. Maynard (1954), D. Gordon (1969), and K. Ainsworth and E. M. Ainsworth (1970); study by M. F. Sullivan (1971).

Serra, Junipero (1713–1784), Franciscan missionary, founder of California missions.Born in Majorca, he sailed for America in 1749 and arrived in Mexico City in 1750. Beginning in 1769, he established a system of nine missions between San Diego and San Francisco. They were San Diego De Acala (1769), San Carlos Borromeo De Carmelo (1770), San Antonio De Padua (1771), San Gabriel Arcangel (1771), San Luis Obispo De Tolosa (1772), San Francisco De Asis (1776), San Juan Capistrano (1776), Santa Clara De Asis (1777), and San Buenaventura (1782). These missions played a pivotal role in the West Coast's formative history. Serra also assisted in founding four presidios (military garrisons) and two pueblos.

Indians from at least six linguistic stocks were gathered into the missions. More than 6,000 were baptized and 5,276 confirmed. Junipero Serra professed love for the Indians; understood their customs and manners; and defended their interests on such issues as the rightful payment for labor, proper punishment (if any), and the sharing of supplies. This involved him in conflicts with the Spanish military authorities, one of whom, Don Felipe de Neve, military commander of Alta California, found him “arrogant” and “obstinate.”

All, however, acknowledged his tireless devotion to the cause. “What good is a man's life,” he once asked, “if he doesn't bring miracles to this earth for his brothers?” Junipero Serra was beatified for sainthood by Pope John Paul II in 1984, at his grave in the sanctuary of Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel, California.
See also Colonial Era; Indian History and Culture: From 1500 to 1800; Religion; Roman Catholicism; Spanish Settlements in North America.

Bibliography

Maynard Joseph Geiger , trans., Palóu's Life of Fray Junipero Serra [1787], 1955.
Maynard Joseph Geiger , The Life and Times of Fray Junipero Serra, O.F.M., vols. 1–2, 1959.
Jacinto Fernandez , Summarium, Patris Juniperi Serra, 1984.

Don De Nevi