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Saint or Sinner: Junipero Serra (1989-01-10)
About this film
Junipero Serra, the Franciscan founder of the string of missions along the California coast, had been beatified by Pope John Paul II, raising protests from those, like Mr. Castillo, who believe "that the system that he established here was not of benefit to the Indians." Today's conversation doesn't always connect, but there are interesting bits along the way. Father Maholy: "If at any time I became convinced that Father Junipero Serra was not a saint in his own day and in his death, I would have asked to be relieved of the job, because there are too many valuable things to be done and important things to be done." Mr. Buckley finds it, well, outrageous that an "Ad Hoc Serra Outrage Committee"-- according to a newspaper headline, of "Indian and leftist and atheist groups"--was presuming to tell the Church who was and wasn't a saint. [Note: This program has been digitized as part of the California Audiovisual Preservation Project: http://www.archive.org/details/csth_00002]
Directors & creators
Southern Educational Communications Association
Subjects
public broadcasting, AAPB, Junipero Serra, William F. Buckley Jr., Pope John Paul II, Catholic Church, beatification, Ad Hoc Serra Outrage Committee, California missions, Franciscan Order, Indigenous peoples of the Americas, colonialism, religious history, sainthood, California history
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