St. Junípero Serra (1713–1784) was a Franciscan friar from the island of Majorca, in Spain, who left a brilliant academic career to become a missionary in Mexico and, at the age of fifty-five, founded the first nine of the twenty-one Spanish missions of California, beginning with San Diego in 1769. Pope Francis canonized him in Washington, D.C., in 2015, the first canonization ever celebrated on U.S. soil. His legacy is debated, because the mission system brought great suffering to the Native peoples of California, even as Serra defended them against Spanish soldiers. His feast day in the United States is July 1. Below are his story, the questions about his legacy, and prayers to St. Junípero Serra.
A short prayer to St. Junípero Serra, written for this page:
St. Junípero, you left everything to bring the Gospel to a new land, always moving forward.
Pray for missionaries and for the people of California,
for healing and justice for Native peoples, and for courage to follow Christ wherever He leads. Amen.
Who was St. Junípero Serra?
Miguel José Serra was born on November 24, 1713, in the village of Petra, on Majorca, to a farming family. He joined the Franciscans at sixteen, taking the name Junípero after Brother Juniper, one of St. Francis’s most simple and joyful companions. He became a priest and a celebrated professor of theology, but at thirty-five he gave it all up to become a missionary. In 1749 he sailed to Mexico and walked from Veracruz to Mexico City, injuring his leg in a way that troubled him for the rest of his life.
After years of mission work among the Pame people in the Sierra Gorda mountains and as a preacher across Mexico, he was sent in 1769 to Alta California with the Spanish expedition. On July 16, 1769, he founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the next fifteen years, despite his lame leg, he walked thousands of miles and founded nine missions, among them San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco (Dolores), San Juan Capistrano and Santa Clara. His motto was Siempre adelante, nunca atrás, “Always forward, never back.” He died at Carmel on August 28, 1784, and is buried there.
The debate about his legacy
The missions changed the lives of California’s Native peoples forever. Many were baptized, but they were also bound to mission life, subjected to harsh discipline, and devastated by European diseases, and their cultures were deeply harmed. For this reason many Native Californians and others object to honoring Serra, and some of his statues were removed in 2020.
Serra’s defenders point out that he lived within the colonial system of his time but fought its worst abuses: in 1773 he traveled to Mexico City and presented the viceroy with a list of protections for the Native peoples against the Spanish soldiers, and he asked that the men who attacked Mission San Diego in 1775 be pardoned. In canonizing him, Pope Francis praised his defense of the Native peoples’ dignity, and in other settings asked forgiveness for the sins committed against Indigenous peoples during the colonization of the Americas.
What is St. Junípero Serra the patron saint of?
- California, in popular devotion; his statue represents the state in the U.S. Capitol
- Missionaries
Prayers to St. Junípero Serra
Written for this page.
For missionaries
St. Junípero, you walked thousands of miles to bring the Gospel.
Pray for missionaries today, that they may serve with humility, respect and love for the people they meet. Amen.
For healing and reconciliation
Lord, heal the wounds left by the colonization of the Americas.
Bless the Native peoples of California, defend their dignity,
and lead us all to justice, truth and reconciliation. Amen.
Feast day
The optional memorial of St. Junípero Serra, priest, is July 1 in the United States.
Frequently asked questions
What did St. Junípero Serra do?
He founded the first nine Spanish missions of California, from San Diego (1769) to San Buenaventura (1782).
When was Junípero Serra canonized?
On September 23, 2015, by Pope Francis, at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
What does “Siempre adelante, nunca atrás” mean?
“Always forward, never back,” Serra’s motto.