CA destroys 22-ft St. Junípero Serra statue, falsely claims consulting SF Archbishop Cordileone. Leaked email confirms demolition without church input.
Newsroom (07/11/2025, Gaudium Press ) A 22-foot bronze statue of St. Junípero Serra, the 18th-century Franciscan missionary who founded California’s mission system, was quietly demolished this summer alongside Interstate 280, sparking accusations that state officials lied about consulting the Catholic Church.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco told the National Catholic Register that the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) never contacted his archdiocese despite public claims of outreach to 15 religious organizations. “They said they consulted religious organizations, but they did not consult us. We were completely excluded,” Cordileone said in an exclusive interview. “Once again, California institutions treat the Church as a problem rather than a partner. They lie, they discriminate, and they deny us a voice.”
Caltrans has not provided documentation of any communication with the archdiocese, despite repeated requests. A leaked internal email obtained by the Register reveals the statue was not relocated, as initially suggested, but destroyed because it was deemed “too structurally complex to move intact.”
The statue, erected in 1976 by Catholic contractor Louis DuBois during the U.S. bicentennial, stood for nearly 50 years as a roadside tribute to Serra’s role in establishing nine missions that became modern California cities including Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. Its base bore engraved mission names and depicted Serra pointing westward toward the Pacific.
Serra, canonized by Pope Francis in 2015, remains a polarizing figure. Catholics hail him as a defender of Indigenous peoples against colonial abuses; critics view the mission system as cultural erasure. Statues of Serra have been toppled or removed across California in recent years amid racial justice protests.
Gregg Castro, a Ramaytush Ohlone leader who petitioned Caltrans for removal, confirmed the agency kept his group informed but avoided public hearings. “They didn’t want another public debate,” Castro said.
Caltrans justified the demolition as a “technical necessity” tied to highway improvements. No public process preceded the decision.
Cordileone called the destruction “state-sanctioned intolerance,” asking: “Why erase a man who protected the very people he’s accused of harming?” He cited Serra’s 2,000-mile journey to Mexico City to advocate for Indigenous rights.
Historians offer nuanced views. Robert Senkiewicz, co-author of the 2015 biography Junípero Serra: California, Indians, and the Transformation of a Missionary, said Serra “sincerely believed he was saving souls” but operated within a colonial framework requiring European “civilization.”
Andrew Galvan, an Ohlone Catholic and curator at Mission Dolores, defended Serra’s sanctity despite ancestral suffering under the missions. “He was a good man in a bad situation,” Galvan said. “People can criticize the system — I understand that. But they can’t take away his sanctity.”
In 2021, California replaced a Serra statue in the state Capitol with one honoring Indigenous peoples. Archbishops Cordileone and José Gómez of Los Angeles defended Serra in a Wall Street Journal essay, highlighting his denunciations of abuse.
Cordileone framed the incident as broader than one monument. “This is not merely an argument about history,” he said. “It’s about whether truth still matters in public life, or whether we’ve surrendered it to ideology.”
Caltrans declined to comment on the leaked email or consultation claims.
- Raju Hasmukh with files form Zenit News
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