As reported by the L.A. Daily News:
An 18th-century missionary who brought Catholicism to the American West Coast was elevated to sainthood Wednesday by Pope Francis, prompting Catholics, children and Native Americans to reflect on a history that touches much of Southern California — from the missions of San Fernando and San Gabriel to the Inland Empire.
In the first canonization on U.S. soil, Francis made Junipero Serra a saint during a Mass outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic church in North America.
Serra was a Franciscan friar who marched north from Baja California with conquistadors from his native Spain, establishing nine of the 21 missions in what is now California.
