In 1730 he joined the Franciscans and was ordained to the priesthood. St. Junipero was considered brilliant by his peers; he was well-trained in philosophy and theology, and taught at the university. In 1750 he traveled to the New World and began ministering to the people of Mexico City. In 1768 he moved north and began working in the Californian missions. As a result of his tireless missionary efforts, he is largely responsible for the spread of Catholicism along the western coast of the United States—as testified by the many Californian cities with Spanish Christian names.
St. Junipero Serra founded the first nine of twenty-one Catholic missions that spread along the California coast. He converted thousands of Native Americans to the Christian faith and taught them new methods of agriculture, animal husbandry, and craftsmanship. He died from tuberculosis at the age of 71. The Native Americans he ministered wept at his death out of their love for him.
Junipero Serra was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1988 and canonized by Pope Francis during his trip to the United States in 2015, the first canonization Mass to ever take place on American soil.
