Statue of new saint Junipero Serra vandalised in California

The canonisation of Father Junipero Serra as a saint by Pope Francis last Wednesday during his visit to the U.S. has been smeared after St. Serra's statute was vandalised just a few days after the Pope's declaration.

Vandals damaged St. Serra’s statute, grave and signs by toppling it down and splashing green and white paint all over. A phrase that reads “Saint of Genocide” was seen written in the tombstone.

While church workers and goers alike were disappointed with the incident, Carmel Mission Basilica pastor Father Paul Murphy kept a positive attitude and said that worse could have happened. The incident, which happened on Saturday, is now under investigation.

The canonisation of Fr. Serra was the first one to be held in North America, with many commenting on the bold move by the Catholic Church and the Pope as Native Americans strongly protest the elevation of priest to sainthood.

Associated Press reports that the missions in California which Serra helped found had cut off Native Americans from their traditional languages and cultures, and enslaved those who converted to Christianity.

It was also said that California’s missions during the reign of then Fr. Junipero Serra involved brutality. The Guardian quoted Carey McWilliams describing the missions “a series of picturesque charnel houses.” This brutality expanded to beating, forcing people to labour and infecting people with diseases in Fr. Serra's grave effort to incorporate them into his realm, all of which failed.

McWilliams was a journalist and historian who made the claims in his works almost 70 years ago.

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