SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : On Mission to Honor Father Serra

He gazes into the distance, this life-size bronze statue of Mission San Juan Capistrano founder Father Junipero Serra, dedicated this week at the mission church.

What he might be seeing is the future, which holds another 20 bronze replicas of the Catholic priest, and would bring to 50 the number of Serra statues donated by multimillionaire developer William Hannon.

Hannon has spread the knowledge of Serra, who founded the Mission San Juan Capistrano and another eight of the 21 early California missions, donating the statues to schools in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The statue dedicated at the church here Tuesday was the sixth donated to a mission.

“Many people have asked me why I pick Father Serra,” said Hannon, 79, who in his youth attended a Franciscan school in Los Angeles, where he became aware of Serra’s work. “I have a great amount of respect for him. Father Serra did an awful lot of good for people, and he should be remembered.”

The 30 statues have cost Hannon more than $1 million, money he said is well spent because it helps educate children about early California history.

“Knowing our history is vital,” he said. “The schools also get a $1,000 scholarship for the students.”

The statue was blessed Tuesday by Msgr. Paul Martin, who oversees the mission.

Father Serra was an inspiration to him because “when I turned 60, I thought about Father Serra and how he was establishing missions when he was in his 50s and 60s,” Martin said. “It was a great consolation and inspiration to me.”