Manning, Mahony Join in Boosting Sainthood for Father Serra

Cardinal Timothy Manning, in one of his last public appearances as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles, and Bishop Roger M. Mahony, in one of his final appearances as bishop of Stockton, joined in celebrating a colorful Mass here boosting the cause of sainthood for Father Junipero Serra, the feisty Franciscan friar who founded the California mission chain about 200 years ago.

Manning, 75, for 15 years the leader of the nation’s largest Catholic archdiocese, will retire next week. Mahony, 49, who has headed the Stockton Diocese in Central California for five years and has been a close friend of the cardinal for 18 years, will assume Manning’s post during two days of ceremonies culminating in a formal installation Thursday evening in St. Vibiana’s Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles includes 2.6 million Catholics living in three counties and is served by 1,313 priests and 2,484 women religious, or sisters. Its wealth is estimated at more than $1 billion. On July 16, Pope John Paul II named Mahony, a native of Hollywood, to succeed Manning.

Principal Celebrant

Manning, active in promoting the cause for Serra’s sainthood since 1948, was the principal celebrant at the service here Wednesday. It marked the close of the bicentennial year of the death of the tireless missionary priest, who trudged up and down the state to bring Christianity to the native Indians. He died at San Carlos Borromeo Mission in Carmel on Aug. 28, 1784.

At the end of the Mass, following Manning’s homily, a Chumash Indian woman briefly interrupted the service when she walked to the platform and declared that to canonize Serra would be an insult to “my ancestors . . . who died here to build this mission, and those . . . who are still alive all around you.”

The unscheduled protest was peaceful, and after the ceremony, Manning told reporters that he had “never heard” that Serra had misused the Indians or caused them to die.

On May 9 of this year--following a 50-year push by advocates of Serra’s cause--Pope John Paul declared Serra, founder of nine of the 21 California missions, “venerable,” or possessing “heroic virtues” of the Christian faith.

Two Steps Remain

Two more steps, beatification and canonization, are required in the Roman Catholic process of saint-making. At least one miracle attributed to Serra must be substantiated to advance him to each of the final steps.

“The precise . . . conclusive miracles that will be required in order to have him declared beatified, and finally, canonized . . . will come in God’s good time,” Manning said during his 15-minute sermon in the mission courtyard, where nearly 1,200 people had gathered under brilliant, cloudless skies.

Father Noel Francis Moholy of San Francisco, vice postulator for Serra’s Cause for Canonization since 1958, said during an interview at the Carmel mission that “four or five” alleged miracles attributed to Serra are under investigation. Moholy said he had hand delivered two copies of 345 pages of testimony concerning one of them to Vatican authorities earlier this year.

More Confident Now

Moholy, 70, believes that Serra’s beatification will occur during a papal visit to California, with 1987 “the probable year.” He added, however, that he had no detailed information about the projected event.

“My dream has been all along that the Holy Father would beatify him here at his grave,” said the Franciscan priest. “At first, people thought I was crazy, but now they’re not smiling so broadly.”

In a separate interview, Mahony, who plans to move to Los Angeles on Monday, said he will continue to vigorously press for Serra’s sainthood.

“Much prayer and intercession” are needed, the archbishop-designate said. “It could take many years . . . but I feel quite confident it won’t take too many.” (St. Francis of Assisi holds the record for reaching sainthood--one year. But it took Bede the Venerable 755 years.)

Although the Serra bicentennial Mass was Mahony’s last public appearance outside of his six-county diocese before his scheduled move to the Southland, he plans to celebrate a Spanish-language Mass in Stockton at 1 p.m. Sunday, followed by an evening baptism and confirmation service there for a group of Vietnamese Catholics.

Manning, meanwhile, at 10 a.m. today is scheduled to dedicate a new archdiocesan office building on Grattan Street in Los Angeles for pastoral ministry with handicapped people. The cardinal has emphasized ministries to the handicapped throughout his 51 years as a priest.

To Dedicate Building

Although transfer of leadership in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will not take place until next week, there already has been much speculation over how Mahony, the nation’s youngest archbishop, will make his presence felt.

And Manning’s retirement draws the U.S. Catholic Church close to the end of a major era. Of the four remaining active cardinals in the country, only Cardinal John Krol of Philadelphia, who turns 75--the mandatory retirement age--later this year, attended the epochal Second Vatican Council in the 1960s as a bishop.

Papal Ambassador

The four cardinals--Krol, John J. O’Connor of New York, Bernard F. Law of Boston and Joseph L. Bernardin of Chicago--are expected to attend Mahony’s installation service at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in St. Vibiana’s Cathedral.

According to archdiocesan officials, guests will also include 46 Catholic bishops; Archbishop Pio Laghi, the papal ambassador to the United States; civic dignitaries, and representatives of various religious, ethnic and cultural groups. Attendance will be by invitation and limited to 1,500 people.

The ceremony Thursday will take place in the same sanctuary in which Manning was ordained a priest 51 years ago. The climax will occur when Laghi, the papal delegate, reads the Pope’s letter ordering Mahony to take charge of the archdiocese, and Laghi and Manning guide the new archbishop to the archbishop’s chair. They will then present a brightly polished silver crozier, or pastoral staff--the symbol of his authority as bishop--to Mahony. The crozier was carried by the late Bishop Thaddeus Amat when he consecrated St. Vibiana’s Cathedral in 1876.

‘Time of Prayer’

The liturgical ceremony will be open to all news media. A ceremony on Wednesday, however, when Mahony meets the priests of the archdiocese, will be closed to all media representatives except the editor of the archdiocesan newspaper and a film crew from KIHS-TV (Channel 46), an independent Catholic television station.

The Wednesday ceremony, called a canonical possession and evening prayer, will be followed by a reception and dinner. The service will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Our Lady Queen of Angels Seminary in San Fernando.

“It’s a much more intimate time of prayer and we just wanted to . . . keep that context,” Mahony told The Times. “The celebration, really, is the next day.”

The papal letter, which will first be read aloud by Laghi at the private ceremony Wednesday, will legally shift the leadership power to Mahony, archdiocese sources said. During the brief proceeding, the Board of Consultors of the archdiocese will affix the archdiocesan seal to the documents and sign them.

On Friday, Mahony will celebrate a high Mass with the deacons (ordained laymen) of the archdiocese and their families. Next Saturday, he will do the same with the sisters and brothers (those in religious orders).

Awakening Interest

Manning, in his message at the Serra bicentennial in Carmel, asked rhetorically why it took the Spanish Franciscan brother 200 years to be declared venerable. It was, Manning explained, because of a period of “disdain for Spanish culture” that followed Serra’s death, the banishing of the Spaniards from Mexico in 1821, the secularization of the religious communities in Mallorca (Serra’s home), and the later “impoverishment of the Franciscan order” in the United States.

“So, the cause of Serra suffered,” the cardinal said, adding that the awakening of interest in Serra, one of the West Coast’s most significant and colorful historical figures, came about through “non-Catholic authors who caught the genius of his life.”

Later in the ceremony, San Jose Postmaster James H. Aanenson noted that a long-sought U.S. postage stamp bearing Serra’s likeness is now a reality: The 44-cent denomination was issued Aug. 22 in San Diego, and again Wednesday, in special albums, at the Carmel mission.

“We are gathered here today not so much to pay tribute to a man who was instrumental in the early colonization of California, but rather to honor the uncomplicated humanity and tireless commitment of a simple monk, utterly dedicated to helping his fellow man,” Aanenson said.

And at the conclusion of the ceremony, as the venerable mission bells tolled loudly, many of the faithful lined up in the courtyard to buy first-day covers of the commemorative airmail stamp.