The Catholic Church abruptly removed a long-standing statue of Junípero Serra from the San Luis Obispo Mission on Monday, amid a reassessment of the missionary’s controversial history that includes abuses against Native Americans.
The statue was brought down by a work crew at about noon Monday to “safeguard the statue and to protect it from vandalism,” a spokeswoman for the diocese of Monterey, which owns the mission property, said Monday.
The statue’s removal follows weeks of protests against systematic oppression of ethnic minorities. Similar statues of the Catholic priest have been toppled by protesters in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Erica Yanev, spokeswoman for the diocese of Monterey, said the removal was for the protection of the monument. Yanev provided a news release from the California Catholic Conference that defended the legacy of Serra, who the conference said “made heroic sacrifices to protect the indigenous people of California.”
San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon said in an Instagram post that she was pleased to see the statue removed.
The above comes from a June 22 story in theTribune of San Luis Obispo.
You should have placed the disclaimer of the article’s authorship by the Tribune of San Luis Obispo at the top of the story. It appears like the CC Daily wrote it and we don’t learn until the end. And, why isn’t there an opinion inserted by you, the Catholic “newspaper” of record for California, in support of our Catholic Saint?
No surprise the mayor was happy to see the statue removed. She would be even happier if the Church itself was removed.
When “activists” demand that crosses be removed from our churches, and politicians are complicit, will we comply?
Appeasing bullies does not work.
Our Eastern Catholic Church suffered under Communism for decades, with many martyred. Here in the U.S., while we still have some liberty, why are we unwilling to speak out for religious liberty and defend our Saints?
And, of course, the issue of Father Serra was thoroughly investigated during his canonization process.
This is simply a totalitarian ploy to which the church has acquiesced.
What an incredible lack of leadership by our bishops. Defer to the conference. Then the conference defers to the laity. Effeminate, castrated, utterly lacking in any form of courage or faithfulness.
More and on going lack of leadership nay cowardice from Bishop Garcia. Go the diocese web site for his letter on the removal of the statue. Says nothing! Blah blah blah. This is Bishop Garcia modus. Letters on statues… letters on Mass closure.
Would have been better to have armed guards protecting the statue. Don’t give in to the violent, ignorant mob.
You are wrong. That would have been costly, obtuse and inflaming. As it is, the statue was quietly moved into the parish’s museum until the mayor shot her mouth off.
Think of what it would’ve communicated to the public had Bp Garcia, along with Fr Vandehey, at least TRIED to rally parishioners to schedule a 24×7 rotation of parish volunteers to defend the statue. If an insufficient number stepped up, then yes, move the statue to safe storage. But had dozens of parishioners rose to the challenge… it would’ve been at least as impressive as what recently happened in Ventura.
Lord, raise up saints among us to defend your Holy Church!
Is this more fruit from the consecration of the country to Mary done in May?
No. It’s more likely the result of the Pachamama idol worship done at the Vatican.
Touche! you hit the mark exactly.
Another vote for “Exactly!”
Put up a nice Catholic statue in your front yard. Let it be a visible sign to passersby that you are Catholic and unafraid. Be sure to have a video camera in place as heathens will want to destroy it, but make a statement. And do call the police to report the hate crime if your shrine is vandalized. Reclaim the statue culture!
Father Junipero Serra is our Saint. He catechized California Indians bringing them eternal life and civilized working skills in this world. A great hero to be admired by all. Bolsheviks cannot stand the idea that Heaven exists. I hate these insurrectionists because they are destroying Christian Civilization.
This is a mission. Why did the statue have to go into a storage room. There must be a plaque explaining what Saint Serra did. It is said that history is written by the winners, don’t let the haters of the Catholic Church win.
Remove the Bishop. Keep the Saint.
When I bought a statue of St. Michael killing Satan, St. Michael and Satan were more Caucasian looking, except Satan looked a little sooty from the fires of hell. I really think figures such as that are all right, but better yet are figures of Michael killing a dragon or icons of him with just a sword. I refuse to buy one that has Michael very light and Satan very dark or visa versa. In the past such figures might have represented Northern European Christians being attacked by Arabs and others, I do not know, but I feel that those figures are best left in the past for the most part, and one needs to be careful what one gives to someone else.