Pope OKs Serra’s Beatification

Pope John Paul II today approved the beatification of 18th-Century missionary Father Junipero Serra, advancing the controversial “apostle of California” one step closer to sainthood. The papal action endorsed a formal finding last week by Vatican investigators that Serra’s intercession was responsible for curing a St. Louis nun of a serious neurological disorder. No date has been set yet for the beatification ceremony, the second of three steps toward canonization. American Indian groups have sharply opposed honors for Serra, charging that the California mission system physically and culturally annihilated local Indian populations.