St. Junípero Serra

Saint Junípero Serra, O.F.M.
A portrait of Serra in 1774
Apostle of California
Born	Miquel Josep Serra i Ferrer (1713-11-24)November 24, 1713 Petra, Majorca
Died	August 28, 1784(1784-08-28) Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, Las Californias, New Spain, Spanish Empire
Beatified	25 September 1988, Saint Peter's Square by Pope John Paul II
Canonized	23 September 2015, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Francis
Major shrine	Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States
Attributes	Franciscan habit, wearing a large crucifix, or holding a crucifix accompanied by a young Native American boy
Patronage	Vocations Hispanic Americans California
Controversy	Suppression of Native American culture

Junípero Serra y Ferrer, O.F.M., (/huːˈnɪpɛroʊ ˈsɛrə/; Spanish: [xuˈnipeɾo ˈsera], Catalan: Juníper Serra i Ferrer) (November 24, 1713 – August 28, 1784) was a Roman Catholic Spanish priest and friar of the Franciscan Order who founded a mission in Baja California and the first nine of 21 Spanish missions in California from San Diego to San Francisco, in what was then Alta California in the Province of Las Californias, New Spain. Serra was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 25, 1988, in Vatican City. Pope Francis canonised him on September 23, 2015, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., during his first visit to the United States. Because of Serra's recorded acts of piety combined with his missionary efforts, he was granted the posthumous title Apostle of California.