Sixty Majorcans to attend Fray Junipero ceremony in Washington

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma15/09/2015 00:00

A delegation of sixty Majorcans led by the Bishop of Majorca, Javier Salinas, will be attending the ceremony in Washington later this month in which the pioneering Majorcan monk Fray Junipero Serra will be made a saint by Pope Francis.

The actual ceremony will take place in Washington on 23 September. Serra, who was born in Petra, founded a series of missions in California in the eighteenth century. The move to proclaim Fray Junipero a saint has attracted some controversy because of the alleged mistreatment of native Americans.

Many cities in California have streets, trails and other features named after Serra. Examples include Santa Barbara, which contains Alameda Padre Serra (Father Serra’s Street), running from Mission Santa Barbara along the base of the Riviera, the hill overlooking the city; Serra Cross Park in Ventura, site of the cross Serra erected at Mission San Buenaventura’s founding; and San Diego, in which Father Junipero Serra Trail runs through the Mission Trails Regional Park to Santee.