CNA Staff, Jun 22, 2020 / 17:40 pm
The Catholic bishops of California have defended St. Junipero Serra, after statues of St. Junipero were torn down in both San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The bishops said June 22 that the saint was "ahead of his time" in defending the rights of indigenous peoples and that those who have called for statues of him to be removed or torn down "failed the test" of history.
A statue of Serra was torn down in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park June 20, along with statues of Francis Scott Key and Ulysses S. Grant. In Los Angeles the same day, rioters pulled down a statue of Serra in the city's downtown area.
"The movement to confront racism within our society during these past weeks has been, at times, challenging," said a statement from the California Catholic Conference of Bishops on Monday, "but it has provided bold new hope for every American that our nation can begin to transform key elements of our racist past and present."