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A Los Angeles park where a statue of St. Junipero Serra was toppled in 2020 will no longer bear the missionary’s name. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced on Indiginous Peoples’ Day that the park, which had long been informally referred to as St. Junipero Serra Park, will be called La Plaza Park.
Mayor Garcetti stated in his announcement:
Garcetti went on to state that the buildings of the area were produced by the “slave labor of indigenous inhabitants.” The mayor proceeded to apologize to the indigenous communities, and suggest that the land does and always will belong to the native american people.
According to Catholic News Agency, the attachment of St. Junipero Serra’s name to the park had always been informal, based on the well known statue of the first U.S. Hispanic saint that had stood in the park since the 1930s. In 2020, a crowd of protesters toppled the statue based on claims that the saint was involved in social injustices in the 18th century.
Catholic leaders have contested the notion that St. Junipero Serra was such a controversial figure. On September 13, Archbishops Jose Gomez of Los Angeles and Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, in which they called such claims “outrageous.” The Archbishops wrote:
The article painted a picture of St. Junipero Serra that was quite the opposite of the narrative. The prelates hailed the saint as a defender of “indigenous people’s humanity,” as well as a protector of indigenous women. They pointed out that he argued against the death penalty for natives who had burned down a mission church.
The bishops are also working to contend with much more egregious claims from Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, who also spoke on Indigenous People’s Day. CNA provided his statement:
