Alumni of a San Diego high school named for St. Junípero Serra filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the school&#8217;s principal and school board, alleging they skirted the law by voting to remove the saint from the name of the school.
&#8220;On July 14, 2021, Thomas More Society Special Counsel filed suit in California Superior Count against Junipero Serra High School Principal Erica Renfree and the San Diego Unified School District, on behalf on a group of the school’s alumni families and residents of the surrounding Tierrasanta community,&#8221; the nonprofit law firm announced in a Wednesday <a href="https://thomasmoresociety.org/san-diego-community-members-sue-school-board-for-unlawful-high-school-name-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">press release</a>. &#8220;These individuals, collectively self-identifying as &#8216;Preserve Serra High,&#8217; object to the school district’s unlawful action of renaming the publicly funded high school without any allowance for input from local resident taxpayers.&#8221;
&#8220;Renfree, the school district, its officials, and up to seventy other individuals are charged with violations of the California and United States Constitutions’ Due Process and Establishment Clauses. The filing also petitions for a Writ of Mandate, a court order to follow the law by correcting its prior actions or ceasing illegal acts,&#8221; the release continued.
“This is another example of the ‘cancel culture’ mentality that radical leftist people in education are trying to force on an unwilling American public,&#8221; said Thomas More special counsel Charles LiMandri. &#8220;Father Serra was a great defender of the indigenous people of California, and he deserves our best efforts to defend his legacy.”
The public high school was founded in 1976 and named for Father Junípero Serra, a Spanish Catholic missionary who lived 1713 to 1784 and founded several missions through modern-day California to minister to Native Americans. Canonized by Pope Francis in 2015, Serra attempted to protect the indigenous people of California from being exploited by Spanish conquistadors.
&#8220;The San Diego Unified School District Board of Trustees violated citizen rights when they voted to rename the school, as they did so without giving the public sufficient notice of their intent to do so,&#8221; the Thomas More Society said. &#8220;A letter to the school district and its board members from Thomas More Society Special Counsel detailed the substantial violation of a central provision of the Brown Act and urged the board to correct this problem at their July 13, 2021, meeting.&#8221;
Several statues of Serra were toppled last summer and Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, which Serra founded in 1771, was torched. In May, 57-year-old John David Corey was charged for the alleged arson, as <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/247542/man-charged-with-arson-in-connection-with-mission-san-gabriel-fire" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> by the Catholic News Agency.
Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Cordileone, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/san-francisco-archbishop-exorcises-site-where-rioters-toppled-junipero-serra-statue" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">exorcised</a> one of the sites where an image of Serra was desecrated, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/made-heroic-sacrifices-bishops-condemn-rioters-that-vandalized-toppled-junipero-serra-statues" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> Serra&#8217;s critics are wrong about his life:
<blockquote>St. Serra made heroic sacrifices to protect the indigenous people of California from their Spanish conquerors, especially the soldiers. Even with his infirmed leg which caused him such pain, he walked all the way to Mexico City to obtain special faculties of governance from the Viceroy of Spain in order to discipline the military who were abusing the Indians. And then he walked back to California.
And lest there be any doubt, we have a physical reminder to this day: everywhere there is a presidio (soldiers’ barracks) associated with a mission in the chain of 21 missions that he founded, the presidio is miles away from the mission itself and the school. St. Junipero Serra also offered them the best thing he had: the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ, which he and his fellow Franciscan friars did through education, health care, and training in the agrarian arts.</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/san-francisco-archbishop-exorcises-site-where-rioters-toppled-junipero-serra-statue" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">San Francisco Archbishop Exorcises Site Where Rioters Toppled Junipero Serra Statue</a>

The monument of Junipero Serra next to the Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis.

Alumni, Community Residents Sue Principal, School District For Scrubbing St. Junípero Serra From High School

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The Archbishop of San Francisco performed an exorcism Saturday at the site where rioters ripped down a statue of Father Junipero Serra last week.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone conducted the ceremony in front of approximately 150 people outside the St. Raphael Catholic Church in San Rafael, which is north of San Francisco. The ritual consisted of Latin prayers and the sprinkling of holy water on the site of the ruined statue, as well as on the surrounding bushes, according to the <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Archbishop-performs-exorcism-to-cleanse-protest-15655677.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">San Francisco Chronicle</a>. The group later conducted a scheduled march to a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic.
&#8220;This sacred site has been desecrated, so we know there is evil here,&#8221; Cordileone told onlookers, adding, “The experts in the field tell me that Latin tends to be more effective against the devil because he doesn’t like the language of the church.&#8221;
The 10-minute Latin prayer Cordileone recited said in part, &#8220;Be gone, Satan, inventor and master of all fallacy, enemy of the salvation of men. Place yourself before Jesus Christ.&#8221;
Five people were arrested for alleged vandalism regarding the Serra statue in San Raphael, which was torn down on Columbus Day, according to the San Raphael Police Department. The statue is reportedly being repaired and will be returned to the site, according to a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco who spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Serra, who was canonized by Pope Francis in 2015, has repeatedly been a target of protesters who see him as a symbol of colonialism for having brought Roman Catholicism to California in the 18th century.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/made-heroic-sacrifices-bishops-condemn-rioters-that-vandalized-toppled-junipero-serra-statues" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Daily Wire reported</a> regarding different Serra statues that were vandalized in June:
<blockquote>California bishops are condemning rioters that defaced and toppled statues of Junipero Serra over the last few days.
Rioters toppled a statue of the Catholic saint in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Friday, knocked down another statue near Los Angeles’ Union Station on Saturday, and defaced several others around the state over the weekend. The California Catholic Conference of Bishops <a href="https://www.cacatholic.org/california-catholic-conference-issues-statement-removal-st-serra-statues-state">condemned</a> the destructive acts on Monday.
“During the past week the specific question of removing statues of political, military and cultural leaders of the past has gained momentum,” the bishops said. “If this process is to be truly effective as a remedy for racism, it must discern carefully the entire contribution that the historical figure in question made to American life, especially in advancing the rights of marginalized peoples.”
“In calling for the removal of images of Saint Junipero Serra from public display in California, and in tearing down his statue in San Francisco and in Los Angeles, protesters have failed that test,” they continued.
Statues of Serra have been targeted for the 18th century priest’s ties to Spanish expansion in North America. Serra led the first group of missionaries into the area of California in 1769, and critics say he represents Spanish colonialism and contributed to Spanish abuses of Native Americans.</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hatred-of-god-lies-at-root-of-nationwide-vandalism-christian-historian-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">‘Hatred Of God’ Lies At Root Of Nationwide Vandalism, Christian Historian Says</a>

Salvatore Cordileone

San Francisco Archbishop Exorcises Site Where Rioters Toppled Junipero Serra Statue

Christianity

Occult

San Francisco

On Thursday, apparently bristling after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had said she should condemn protesters who knocked down the Golden Gate Park statue of St. Junipero Serra in her own district in San Francisco, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi snapped, “I&#8217;m trying to save the world from coronavirus,&#8221; in remarks she reportedly made to the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/pelosi-slams-mccarthy-over-statue-desecration-charges">Washington Examiner</a>.
Pelosi continued, &#8220;I have no interest in McCarthy, who hasn&#8217;t had the faintest idea of our dynamic in our district,&#8221; the Examiner added.
McCarthy had stated on Wednesday, “Given that today is the Feast Day of Saint Junipero Serra, her condemnation of mob violence would be especially timely. Today should be a day for celebration. Instead, we’ve recently seen a violent leftwing mob tear down the statue of St. Serra in Speaker Pelosi’s district in San Francisco, California.”
Last week, in an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2020/06/26/transcript-house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-conversation-with-robert-costa/">interview</a> with The Washington Post’s Robert Costa, Pelosi stated of statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson: “Subject everything to scrutiny and make a decision.”
Costa asked, “Beyond the Confederate statues and paintings in the Capitol, which you&#8217;ve taken the lead on addressing in Congress, should art depicting slave owners, including our nation&#8217;s founding fathers, come down in the country?”
Pelosi initially seemed to negate the idea of removing statues and/or monuments to the founding fathers, answering, “Are you talking about the patriarch of our country, George Washington? The author of our Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson? No, I don&#8217;t think they should come down.”
After opining that paintings of members of the Confederacy who served as House Speaker should come down, she continued, “I do think that in the Capitol, where we have statues of the President of the Confederacy, the Vice President of the Confederacy, along with what they said about people in our country, I think they should come out. But it&#8217;s not about one issue of at the time did they own slaves. It&#8217;s about what did they do about it.”
Costa pressed, “So then to follow up, what&#8217;s your message to some activists who say the founding fathers, there needs to be a reckoning of some sort, whether it&#8217;s tearing down their images or just having a conversation? How should this nation handle the issue of slave owners in our founding fathers moving ahead?”
Pelosi replied, “I would say rather than tearing down and defacing, why don&#8217;t we just have a review? Have a review in terms of let&#8217;s take it down safely so that we&#8217;re not hurting anybody when the statue comes down or costing more money to get rid of it or get rid of the defacing of something that might not&#8211;maybe shouldn&#8217;t have been.”
She added, “But I think that this&#8211;I&#8217;m all for it. Let&#8217;s review this. Why are we glorifying the sins of the past? That doesn&#8217;t mean that because Thomas Jefferson or George Washington or others were slave owners that we should undermine what they did for our country. These Confederates&#8211;Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stephens&#8211;they committed treason against the United States in the name of slavery. I think that&#8217;s a different story. But you know what? Subject everything to scrutiny and make a decision, but I do think we should do it in a safer way rather than a more dangerous way.”
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McCarthy To Pelosi: Condemn Rioters Who Knocked Down Saint’s Statue. Pelosi Sneers: ‘I’m Trying To Save The World From Coronavirus’

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Alumni, Community Residents Sue Principal, School District For Scrubbing St. Junípero Serra From High School

San Francisco Archbishop Exorcises Site Where Rioters Toppled Junipero Serra Statue

McCarthy To Pelosi: Condemn Rioters Who Knocked Down Saint’s Statue. Pelosi Sneers: ‘I’m Trying To Save The World From Coronavirus’