Diocese Disappointed Over Delay on Sainthood Decision

Monterey Diocese officials Monday said they were disappointed that the beatification of Father Junipero Serra will not take place during Pope John Paul II’s U.S. visit next month.

At the same time, they acknowledged that they would have had to rush to fully prepare for a beatification service Sept. 17 at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey.

“Everyone here was surprised and disappointed,” said Monterey Diocese spokesman Ted Elisee. But some people “thought we were contriving the miracle and rushing the process. I felt this shows that the Vatican studies the cases carefully, based on all the facts.”

Vatican officials Friday decided to withhold a decision on beatification, the second of three steps toward sainthood, pending formal action by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The congregation must study the seemingly miraculous cure of a St. Louis nun who prayed for Serra’s help 27 years ago.

Following Procedures

Since the congregation’s widely scattered cardinals and bishops cannot be gathered before the papal visit, beatification at Laguna Seca would have required the Pope to act without the congregation’s recommendation. But the Pope believes that the normal requirements should be fulfilled, a Vatican spokesman said Friday.

Elisee said the Pope’s Monterey itinerary remains unchanged. He will stop at Serra’s grave at the Carmel Mission after celebrating a two-hour Mass at Laguna Seca.

Bishop Thaddeus Shubsda of Monterey was not available for comment. But Elisee said Shubsda, who was initially disappointed at the Vatican’s decision, felt that in retrospect there would not have been enough time “to prepare properly for a ceremony that could have shown enough dignity for a man of Serra’s stature.”

Serra, the 18th-Century missionary known as the “Apostle of California,” founded a chain of Franciscan missions.