Major Lobbying Job : Serra: On a Fast Track to Sainthood

The plain white package Father Juan Folguera carried across the cobblestones of St. Peter’s Square did not look like the material of which miracles are made.

Accompanied by his aide, the overseer for all sainthood candidates of the Franciscan Order walked into No. 10, Piazza Pius XII, an anonymous-looking doorway just off the square. The pair--both dressed in the order’s traditional brown habit, belted at the waist with knotted ropes--stepped into the elevator and rode to the third floor.

There, a Vatican official formally accepted the package, about the size of a Los Angeles telephone book, unwrapped it and broke the seal of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Mo.

Inside were testimony and documents dealing with the case of a Franciscan nun who maintains she was cured 25 years ago of lupus, a chronic disease that attacks the organs, including the kidneys, skin and the nervous system, through the intercession of a saintly man--Father Junipero Serra.

With that, Father Serra--the “Apostle of California,” founder of missions from San Diego to San Francisco and the man whose motto was “never turn back”--moved another step closer to canonization.

Tried and True Routes

Officially, the process of declaring a person a saint is a mixture of faith, jurisprudence and papal infallibility. And there are some tried and true routes to acquiring the halo: martyrdom, living a holy life of prayerful contemplation or founding a powerful religious order.

Serra does not fit this profile, yet he is on the fast track to sainthood. Next year in Carmel, Calif., Pope John Paul II probably will pronounce Serra beatified, the last step before canonization. A declaration of sainthood could follow in less than a decade.

The Serra cause has benefited from adroit maneuvering by powerful ecclesiastical backers in Los Angeles and Rome, and by support from a diverse secular coalition that has developed in his favor over the last 50 years in California.

In addition, Serra may be riding the wave of Latino immigrants to the Southwestern United States. With the Roman Catholic Church challenged by evangelical Protestants in the Hispanic-American community as well as throughout Latin America, the time may be propitious--in one cleric’s words--for an “affirmative-action saint.”

For the second time in California history, Junipero Serra is at the right place at the right time, and the success of his cause typifies the politics of sainthood.

Christened Miguel Jose Serra in Petra, Majorca, in 1713, Serra took the name Junipero when he joined the Franciscan order. He was a college professor until the age of 36, when he gave up his comfortable sinecure, left the island to become a missionary to the Indians in Mexico and, later, in California.

In 1769, as part of the expedition of Gaspar de Portola, he founded California’s first mission, in San Diego. When the expected supply ship did not appear in the harbor and food ran low, Portola said he would abandon the mission if relief did not come soon.

If the soldiers left, Serra told Portola, the other Franciscans “and I will remain to wait and see if the ships arrive and if as a result, we shall be able to establish a second mission. If we see that the foodstuffs are running low and hope is waning, I shall remain here with Father Fray Juan alone to hold out to the very last.”

Serra’s determination to hold out--the supplies eventually arrived--is characteristic of his ministry in California. Nonetheless, throughout his life he was a controversial figure, battling for civil power with Spanish military authorities, defending himself in church intrigues and countering accusations that he mistreated Indian converts.

Reputation Was Known

Yet the night after Serra died peacefully at Mission San Carlos Borromeo at Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1784, his reputation for sanctity was such that guards had to be posted at his open coffin to prevent the faithful, including Indian converts, from clipping locks of his hair or pieces from his cloak as relics.

Serra was formally proposed for sainthood in 1934, and for the next 15 years biographical material was gathered from around the world. With the approval of the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints, hearings on the Serra cause were held in Fresno in 1948 and 1949 to inquire whether the candidate--called “the Servant of God”--had lived a life “of heroic virtue.”

During these hearings, which were closed to the public, Serra’s supporters evidently overcame any objections raised by the Promoter of the Faith, an official appointed by the Congregation and known widely as “the Devil’s Advocate.” This church position was eliminated in 1983.

In the early 1950s, the cause of the determined Franciscan gradually passed into the hands of another, equally determined young Franciscan priest, Noel Francis Moholy, a San Francisco native who was teaching sacred theology. Eventually, Moholy was appointed Serra’s “vice postulator,” meaning he was assigned to the cause on a full-time basis.

In effect, he became Serra’s lobbyist.

“It’s actually what I’m doing,” he said of the designation. “I have no problem with it.”

As Serra’s campaign manager, Moholy, 69, has learned a good deal about the sainthood system.

“In my initiation into this process, I remember meeting a very capable lobbyist in Sacramento who was helping me in a project,” Moholy said. The greatest lesson he learned from the man, he said, was recognizing when to use the hard sell and when to use finesse.

Based on the California tribunal’s recommendation, extensive further investigation in Rome and the indefatigable efforts of Father Moholy, the Congregation recommended that the Pope designate Serra “venerable,” the first step toward canonization. Pope John Paul II did that in May, 1985.

To move to the next stage, beatification, the Congregation must agree that the candidate had a recognized reputation in his lifetime for holiness and “granting signs, favors and miracles,” and that one “canonically approved miracle” resulted from invocation of his name for intercession after his death.

It was the evidence of a miracle that Father Moholy delivered to the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints behind the door on Piazza Pius XII.

Upstairs at the Congregation, Father Folguera, a Spaniard whose official title is postulator general, and Father Moholy were ushered in to meet Cardinal Pietro Palazzini, prefect of the body.

The Congregation was founded in 1588, although its ecclesiastical antecedents stretch back for centuries. It is composed of 32 cardinals and bishops, an administrative staff of 25, plus 80 theological, historical and medical consultants.

In his office, Cardinal Palazzini asked the two Franciscans only one question: “When is the Pope coming to California?”

“September of 1987,” Moholy answered, whereupon Cardinal Palazzini immediately granted the Serra case precedence, asking that Moholy procure a second copy of the miracle documentation from the United States as soon as possible. Ordinarily, the priest said later, it is not uncommon for evidence of a miracle to sit on a shelf for six months or a year before any action is taken, given the limited resources of the Congregation.

“I don’t know how we could have done better,” Moholy said of the meeting.

Hearings Held in 1985

The material Moholy left with the Congregation was the result of October, 1985, hearings held before a tribunal of priests and a physician in St. Louis to investigate the claim of a 70-year-old Franciscan nun that 25 years ago, after being diagnosed by her doctor as having incurable lupus, she was cured after asking Father Serra to intervene with God on her behalf.

Copies of the miracle material will be sent by the Congregation to two Italian specialists, who do not know one another, for a preliminary examination. For the process to continue, at least one of these two doctors must certify that the cure is “inexplicable according to medical science.”

If one of the doctors does agree, the panel will be expanded to six physicians. To accept the miracle as without explanation, a vote of at least three of the five voting doctors is required. Specifically, the panel must agree that the original medical diagnosis was correct, the cure was complete and did not occur as a result of medical intervention or natural phenomena.

With advances in modern diagnostic medicine--X-rays, CT-scans and magnetic imaging--the standards for judging miracles has tightened considerably. “The new technology narrows the area of the unexplained,” said Dr. Marcello Meschini, 62, a legal medicine specialist who has been permanent secretary of the Congregation’s medical board for 30 years.

Consider Testimony

A favorable finding by the medical panel would go back to the Congregation, which would consider testimony of the St. Louis nun as well as clergy and character witnesses in deciding whether the cure was miraculous and took place through the intercession of Serra.

(A second miracle is normally required for canonization. Martyrs can be beatified without a miracle, but a miracle is usually required for them to be canonized. The Pope can dispense with all miracle requirements.)

By design, the sainthood process is lengthy and deliberative. In the extreme, it took Bede the Venerable 800 years to become beatified.

“There is a complex series of checks and balances all along the process,” said Father Robert Sarno, 38, the first English-speaking staff member of the Congregation. “People should be aware of the soundness and thoroughness of the investigation. That’s why it takes so long.”

The Toughest House

Moholy acknowledges that the Vatican may be the toughest house ever worked by a lobbyist. He does have allies, however. One is Father John Vaughn, who was once Moholy’s student in sacred theology. Vaughn, an American from Santa Ana, Calif., heads the Franciscan order in Rome, one of the oldest and largest religious orders, and one well-represented among the sainted.

If all roads lead to Rome at the current stage in the Serra sainthood drive, all Vatican paths to power lead to the Pope’s office, a reality reflected in the rest of Moholy’s schedule on his recent trip. His appointments included:

- Archbishop John Foley of Philadelphia, director of communications for the Vatican who frequently travels with the Pope. “I’ll brief him on the status of the cause,” said Moholy. “That’s the subtle approach.”

- Archbishop Paul C. Marcinkus, of Cicero, Ill., Vatican banker, confidant of the Pope and an enthusiastic golfer. “The excuse I have to get in to see him is to talk about the Bob Hope Golf Tournament,” said Moholy, with a chuckle. “By way of no harm we’ll talk about Serra.”

- Archbishop Justin Rigali of Los Angeles, formerly of the Vatican Secretariat, now in charge of training Vatican diplomats. “He certainly has the papal ear,” Moholy said.

By the time Moholy left Rome, he was well satisfied. At the Congregation, he said, “everything has fallen into place. The wheels are really turning now. Everything is lined up.” En route back to San Francisco Moholy stopped in Washington to brief the Papal Nuncio on the trip.

There are, however, larger forces at work in the sainthood process than the importunings of a single lobbyist, and the cause of Junipero Serra has been affected by many of these forces.

Father Moholy: “You’re Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Father Palazzini, and you’re in talking with the Pope. And he’ll say, ‘Well, how are things going?’ You’ll say, ‘Well, here are the the most prominent cases.’ And he’ll say, ‘Gee, nothing’s happening in Africa.’ Well, you’ll go home and tell the staff working on Africa that he spotted some interest there. So anything like that, a remark like that can spark the thing. Or he can say, ‘Gosh, we’ve been canonizing a lot of nuns and priests. Don’t the lay people do anything anymore, don’t they live holy lives? And we want to show the universality of the church.’ ”

A new and critical factor influencing the sainthood process is the itinerary of a Pope who likes to travel. In 1980, Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila suggested to John Paul II that it might be a good idea to personally announce the beatification of 16 Catholic martyrs while visiting the Philippines in early 1981. The reaction was so favorable that since then the Pope has tried to announce at least one beatification on each of his many trips.

Asked in an interview what effect the Pope’s travel schedule had on the workings of the Congregation, Cardinal Palazzini said: “A lot.”

Used as a Lever

Father Antonio Cairoli, who held the position of postulator general for the Franciscans for nearly 30 years and who now handles only selected causes at the personal request of the Pope, explained how backers of individual Servants of God are able to use the Pope’s itinerary as a lever.

Cairoli cited the case of Pope John Paul II’s visit to one unidentified Third World nation.

The Congregation had two candidates from that country under consideration for beatification, but recommended only one to the Pope. Cairoli, who was managing the other candidate, thought this was a mistake, since he felt his candidate was far better known and more beloved among Catholics in that country. So he called Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, Vatican secretary of state, and informed him of the situation, suggesting that the Pope’s trip might be less successful if Cairoli’s candidate were not also beatified.

At the same time, Cairoli wrote the bishop of the diocese where his candidate lived, and suggested that a letter to the Pope--a sample of which he included--might prove fruitful. The letter was sent to the Pope, and the Congregation was informed that the Holy Father wished to beatify both candidates.

Pope Makes the Decision

“This Congregation is consultative,” said the Brooklyn-born Sarno, who is in the fourth year of a 10-year assignment at the Congregation. “In other words, the Holy Father uses this congregation and all its resources to make a decision, but the actual decision is made by the Holy Father. . . . We believe that when the Pope declares someone a saint that it is part of his infallible teaching authority.”

As in the case of papal elections, Cairoli insists that this sort of maneuvering has nothing to do with politics. “I am convinced that it is not a human hand that works in this process,” he said. “Our Lord works in this matter.”

On the other hand, he does admit that “we have to work the corridors” on behalf of sainthood candidates.

There are thousands of saints, many of whose origins are lost to antiquity, but fewer than 300 have been canonized since 1645. In 1969, “a kind of house cleaning” took place, according to Father Sarno, in order to put the liturgical calendar “in order with the Second Vatican Council,” which required documentary evidence for the early saints. Worldwide, there are now 1,200 candidates at various stages of the canonization process.

Still, timing is critical.

Now’s the Time to Push

“We must choose,” Cairoli said, among many worthy candidates, “to say now is the time to push this particular cause.”

But Cairoli was always a strong backer of the Serra cause. He gave Moholy the same advice he gave to all vice postulators: “If a candidate’s influence is very well-known and powerful in the country where he lived, the cause develops spontaneously.”

Or, as Cardinal Palazzini put it, “a saint does have more influence on history than a politician.”

In the case of Junipero Serra, that influence is obvious. The missions he founded or planned gave their names to most of the state’s major cities, and the Franciscans’ path between the missions--El Camino Real--formed the backbone of California’s freeway system. Throughout the 20th Century, acquisition and restoration of the missions and presidios were a unifying community exercise, creating popular tourist attractions and recreating active houses of worship, as well as providing a distinctive architectural motif of red tile roofs and adobe walls that is still evident in California.

Street Signs, Statues

Serra’s name is on countless street signs, and his face graces a national commemorative medal struck by the U.S. Mint. Among the scores of life-sized and larger-than-life statues are one on the capital grounds in Sacramento and another in Statuary Hall in the Capitol in Washington, half of the pair representing the state.

Even before the sainthood cause of Junipero Serra was formally proposed, there was strong non-denominational backing for his elevation. Charles Fletcher Lummis, an early city editor of the Los Angeles Times, and romantic novelist Helen Hunt Jackson urged Catholics to initiate the process. At times, critics charged that after lying dormant for 125 years, the cause of sainthood for Junipero Serra was being resurrected largely out of California boosterism.

After 1934, other powerful allies joined the effort, groups from the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West to the Knights of Columbus. Democratic and Republican governors at least as far back as Earl Warren have endorsed the campaign. Most prominent, however, have been conservative stalwarts like the Knowland publishing family of Oakland, industrialist Patrick Frawley of Los Angeles and fast-food entrepreneur Carl Karcher of Orange County. Most recent converts to the cause have been Latino supporters of President Reagan, such as Dr. Tirso del Junco, chairman of the 1984 Reagan-Bush organization.

Moholy also enjoys the support of Reagan intimate William Wilson, U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

Unceasing in His Work

Father Moholy has been unceasing in his work in support of Serra, speaking to groups, writing letters and even co-authoring a popular biography of Serra. Thomas A. Fuentes, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party and spokesman for the Diocese of Orange, credited Moholy with helping turn Serra into “a cause held by and advocated prayerfully by every California Catholic school child.”

One of Moholy’s most instructive experiences was his two decades of work toward a U.S. stamp honoring Serra, whose face appears on the stamps of half a dozen other nations.

Moholy did all the spade work for the stamp in 1963, and said he thought everything was in order.

“All of a sudden one flunky executive assistant says there’ll be no stamp with a priest’s image on it while Kennedy’s in the White House,” recalled Moholy. “ ‘Orders from the White House.’ ”

Pushed for a Stamp

For another 20 years Moholy pushed for a Serra stamp, but a break did not come until 1985. Former Interior Secretary William Clark, whose mother is a longtime friend of Moholy, called the priest to tell him that the White House had approved the stamp, a 44-cent air mail stamp that sold 164 million copies.

None of Serra’s advances have come cheaply. Estimates of the cost of the sainthood drive range from $200,000 to close to $1 million. Moholy said he has made about 15 trips to Rome.

“We always have to worry about a nickel,” said Moholy. “I want you to get that in there, someplace, that I’ve had to raise every penny for 35, 36, 37 years now, raising every penny by myself. I’ve been given no allotment from the church or the Franciscan order, anything like that.”

(Recently, the Vatican has established a “Fund for Poor Causes” to help promote candidates from poor Third World countries.)

Three saints are considered American: German-born John Neumann, bishop of Philadelphia; Italian-born Frances Xavier (Mother) Cabrini, and U.S.-born Elizabeth Ann Seton. Only one other American is at the same level as Serra, Father Damien DeVeuster of Hawaii, known as “Damien of the Lepers.” One American, Rose Philippine Duchesne, of St. Louis, has been beatified.

For whom is it important, in 1986--apart from the Franciscans and Serra’s California boosters--that a stubby, stubborn, contentious friar, dead for more than two centuries, becomes the fourth American saint?

“It’s important for everybody,” said Bishop Thaddeus Shubsda of Monterey, striding across the plaza of the restored Carmel Mission where Serra is buried. “And it’s important for everybody because we all need heroes that talk to us about doing what is good and what is right and what is helpful to people in the face of odds and difficulty. We need to be reminded that there have been people of flesh and blood who have succeeded against odds.”

“He’s not being canonized because he founded nine missions,” Moholy said. “He’s being canonized because of the way he lived.”

As the Pope worked his way along the front row of his regular, Wednesday public audience several weeks ago, waiting for him was a white-haired man in a Franciscan habit, holding a book. The book Father Noel Francis Moholy was holding was his own biography of Junipero Serra.

“I wanted him to know what I was going to talk about before he got to me, so he’d be ready,” Moholy said. “I said, ‘Your Holiness, we would like you to proceed with the beatification of Father Junipero Serra.’ ”

In English, Moholy said, the Pope responded: “We shall see. You must insist and you must pray.” The Pope took the book and promised to read it, Moholy said.