Facing historic evil amid charges in Serra statue case
It is time for local Catholic Church officials to do a self examination.
The honest and full exposure of the Catholic Church’s results in creating missions that perpetrated spiritual, cultural and physical genocide of the original peoples of California is a necessary reckoning — a truth-telling imperative.
I am a 30-year resident of Tiburon, a sixth generation Californian, a direct descendent of Mariano G. Vallejo and an Irish Catholic in association with the Society of the Sacred Heart.
I write with a close eye on news around the toppling of the Junipero Serra statue in San Rafael by a group of Indigenous women and two spirited others last fall. I am specifically asking to examine the subsequent legal charges against those protesters.
The red-painting and toppling of the Serra statue at Mission San Rafael may appear to Catholic Church officials as a violation of its property rights, its beliefs and the very reason for its existence. It is clear by his reaction in performing an exorcism at the mission that Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was very offended; he made evident his belief that evil spirits were unleashed by these Indigenous youth.
“An act of sacrilege occurred here,” Cordileone said during the exorcism. “That is an act of the evil one. Evil has made itself present here.”
I believe that Cordileone’s act of exorcism is a continuation of the historical misguided assumption that Catholic Church officials have to erase native spirituality in order to bring Indigenous people into relationship with God.
Indigenous people and their spirituality are not demonic, although that belief clearly undergirded the actions of the Catholic Church in its relationship with the original peoples in California since Serra started building the missions here. Cordileone is prolonging the misguided belief of Christian superiority that allowed Serra and his Franciscan missionaries to treat potential converts — children of God — in ways that were dehumanizing, coercive and ultimately genocidal.
Because of my lineage and current study into the historical relationship between the Catholic missions and California Indians, I have an intimate viewpoint. I grapple with understanding what God may be calling me to do because of this background, and because of the violence and destruction that I have discovered in both my great-great grandfather Vallejo’s and the Catholic Church’s actions in relation to Indigenous peoples here in California.
According to reports about the exorcism, Cordileone said he did not want to “deny that historical wrongs have occurred, even by people of good will, and healing of memories and reparation is much needed. But just as historical wrongs cannot be righted by keeping them hidden, neither can they be righted by rewriting the history.”
My challenge to local Catholics and their local church is to start a process of self reflection — as a moral and appropriate response to this suppressed history with its ongoing consequences today.
I understand that the Catholic Church’s saints are not expected to be flawless or perfect, which shows understanding and compassion for what sins those saints may have perpetrated. It would seem that Serra’s sins of violence, wrath and pride have been forgiven by the Catholic Church. I would ask Cordileone to offer the same extension of forgiveness to the young Indigenous youth, rather than criminalizing their actions by punishing and seeking vengeance against them. Better than the sins of hatred and perpetuating hostilities are compassion and humility.
We are being asked by today’s Indigenous peoples: Tell the truth about the history, repent for the harms and amend for those harms. This is what I believe is being asked of us in the toppling of the statue of Serra: Be truthful about the past and vulnerable and courageous enough to work toward repairing our relationship with our Indigenous relatives.
May we lean on the love and compassion of our beloved creator and our blessed mother to guide us, open us and expand our hearts.
My challenge to local Catholics and their local church is to start a process of self reflection — as a moral and appropriate response to this suppressed history with its ongoing consequences today.