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Pope Francis vs. Native American Indians.
By Paris Arrow
POPE FRANCISCON-Christ.
May 4, 2015
http://pope-francis-con-christ.blogspot.ca/2015/05/pope-francis-vs-native-american-indians.html
We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable — but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.
-- Ursula K. Le Guin
To canonize Junipero Serra is to canonize the genocide against us as indigenous people. Serra brutally converted indigenous people to Christianity, enslaved converts and helped spread diseases like smallpox. His job was to kill the indigenous people, who we were as a people, and instead revive us as Christians. Instead of being honored, Serra should be criticised for what was his role in wiping out native populations in a brutal campaign to impose Catholicism.
-- Citlalli Anahuac with Mexica Movement, which has held several protests at the Archdiocese in Los Angeles
There is “nothing positive in the history of Serra”. The upcoming canonization is a “strictly political” move. You will see how far modern tribes are away from the church. The (Native American) culture is reviving; that proves to me that they are moving away from what Serra had wanted. Pope Francis is orchestrating the canonization “to get some publicity” and revive Catholicism in California. This is nothing more than a PR move by the Catholic Church to entice more people to become Catholic. Serra’s reign was a “devastating period” and the pope’s plan to canonize the Franciscan is “disgraceful”.
--- Ronald Andrade, executive director of the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission
Andrade’s view is echoed by Elias Castillo, who wrote the book: “A Cross of Thorns: The Enslavement of California’s Indians by the Spanish Missions.”
The Spanish missions of California have long been misrepresented as places of benign and peaceful coexistence between Franciscan friars and California Indians. In fact, the mission friars enslaved the California Indians and treated them with deliberate cruelty. "A Cross of Thorns" describes the dark and violent reality of Mission life. Beginning in 1769, California Indians were enticed into the missions, where they and their descendents were imprisoned for 60 years of forced labor and daily beatings.
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