Pope Defends Soon-To-Be Saint vs Native American Objections
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has praised the zeal of an 18th-century Franciscan missionary he will make a saint when he visits the United States this fall but whom Native Americans contend brutally converted indigenous people to Christianity.
Francis praised Junipero Serra during a weekend homily at a Rome seminary training future priests from North America. The pope will proclaim the Spaniard a saint during a Washington, D.C., ceremony Sept. 23.
Native Americans have protested in California, saying the friar should be criticized for what they contend is his role in wiping out native populations in a brutal campaign to impose Catholicism. They contend he enslaved converts.
Meanwhile, his popularity has soared among Catholics and even outside the church, but Pope Francis has critics in the U.S.
Conservative Republicans aren't pleased with Francis' views on global warming and immigration, and his vehement opposition to the death penalty. Their grumblings have been largely private.
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