Serra, Junípero, Saint, 1713-1784

found: Wall Street Journal, Sept. 24, 2015:p. A8 (Pope Francis canonized the U.S.'s first Hispanic saint during a Mass in Washington, D.C., Wednesday [Sept. 23, 2015] praising the Rev. Junípero Serra, the friar who is considered the father of California's missions. Catholics lobbied for decades to have Father Serra elevated to sainthood for his efforts to spread Christianity in California and found the system of missions during the 18th century that helped colonize the state)

found: Dictionary of American Catholic Biography, ©1984:pages 520-521 (Serra, Junípero, missionary; b. Nov. 24, 1713 at Petra on the island of Majorca, Spain. He studied under the Franciscans at Petra and Palma, joined the Franciscans at Palma in 1730, and took his vows the following year, taking the name Junípero. He was ordained in 1737, taught philosophy at St. Francis friary at Palma in 1740-1743, received his doctorate in 1742, and occupied the Duns Scotus chair of philosophy at the University of Palma in 1744-1749. He was sent to San Fernando College in Mexico City in 1749, spent the first five months of 1750 at the college, and then was sent to work among the Pame Indians of Sierra Gorda. He introduced agriculture and domestic animals and several European trades at the missions, raised the standard of living of the Indians, and frequently quarreled with the military over its treatment of the Indians. He is reported to have baptized 6,000 and confirmed more than 5,300 persons. He was among the pioneers in the settlement of California. The process of beatification was opened in Rome in 1934. He died Aug. 28, 1784 at Mission San Carlos near Monterey, California)

found: Laorden Jiménez, L. Siempre adelante ... : el legado del santo Fray Junípero Serra, desde Petra, Mallorca, a las misiones en la Sierra Gorda de Querétaro y en la Alta California, 1713-1784, abril de 2016:p. 11 (José Serra Ferrer, "San Fray Junípero Serra") p. 29, etc. (Miguel José Serra Ferrer, who upon taking vows in the Franciscan Order would change his name to Junípero, came to the world on Nov. 24, 1713, in the town of Petra on the island of Mallorca)