Old Mission Santa Inés in Solvang announced plans to keep their St. Junípero Serra statue despite statewide calls for the figures to be torn down.
The mission released their statement in response to a petition calling for the statue’s removal on change.org. The petition has rallied nearly 1,000 signatures and claims that, “Junipero Serra [was] a man who spent the majority of his life kidnapping, enslaving and stripping away the culture of indigenous peoples. ”
The mission’s statement reads in part:
“First and foremost, we want to express our concern and understanding of the pain expressed by some native peoples in California because of the crimes committed against their ancestors during colonial days. We acknowledge that Saint Junípero Serra’s involvement in Spanish colonial policy is problematic and the mission system was far from perfect, but there is no historical support for the attack on his character found in the wording of the petition and subsequent statements.
“The statue of St. Junípero Serra at Mission Santa Inés is not a historical monument or a civic memorial. Rather it is an image of a saint set to encourage us to treat one another with love and respect as our Catholic faith teaches us.”
The statement went on to explain that the mission grounds where the statue is located are private property, meaning the city has no jurisdiction over its placement.
Based on the purpose of the statue and its history, Old Mission Santa Inés said they plan to keep the statue on mission property.
“We recognize the desire to remove statues that are on public property, but as a place of worship for thousands of Catholic faithful, we respectfully must affirm our First Amendment right to keep the statue of St. Junípero Serra safely on our mission grounds where it stands and where the faithful can visit and venerate it.”
The above comes from a July 24 story on KEYT (ABC in Santa Barbara).
I hope the mission has a good security system including alarms and cameras so thai, if someone tries something ‘nasty’, they can deter or at least minimize damage.
Deo Gratias!! Somebody had the guts to stand up to the Communist mobs for once!!!
I am happy to read the well worded Mission’s statement of truth.
Chumash casino is nearby.
So is Hans Christian Andersen Park and a Peet’s Coffee. Your point?
The Mission’s statement is lame.
Hymie, I think you forgot to add “thank you for not caving in to political pressure and removing the statue, like others have done.”
The city of Carmel, where Saint Junipero is buried, removed their stature of Father Serra “for safe keeping.” In its place, someone (don’t know if it was the city) put a naked black mannequin. Saint Junipero, pray for us.
Black mannequins matter too.
Tell that to the Saints of Africa, I doubt they would agree with you that a naked mannequin honors them. Most likely they would consider it an insult.
Finally a Catholic group with the guts to stand-up against the misinformation being circulated by the Marxists. St. Junipero pray for us!