Serra Relics Offered to Public
Tiny bone fragments from the body of Father Junipero Serra, the 18th-Century founder of California missions proposed for sainthood, are being offered in 500 encapsulated containers for $25 to $250 each.
Father Noel Francis Moholy, the Franciscan friar who has campaigned for Serra’s sainthood for 40 years, said the relics are not for sale but available for donations.
He said the relics are similar “to having a picture of your mother or a piece of her jewelry after she has died. You cherish it, but you don’t worship it.
“These are not amulets or charms. They are not like rabbits’ feet. . . . They are merely a means of devotion to Blessed Junipero Serra.”
The bone chips were collected in 1987 when Serra’s remains were exhumed from Carmel Mission Basilica during a process known as canonical recognition and laid on an altar cloth. After examination by experts, Serra’s bones were resealed in a casket and reburied.
Two years ago, Serra was beatified by Pope John Paul II, the second of three steps toward sainthood. Serra established the earliest Catholic missions in California.
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