But why did Pope Francis select Blessed Junipero Serra to canonize on September 23? Why did he dust off an old candidacy lost in centuries of controversy, and put it in the spotlight? And why did he choose to celebrate Padre Serra in the seat of American power: Washington, D.C.?

First, Francis finds in Serra a powerful kindred soul, an echo of his own love of the simple, the humble, and service to the poor. He sees Serra as a saint for our anxious times, and canonizing him in Washington rather than California implicitly marks him as a national, and even transnational, saint of the Americas.

Pope Francis in an interview said that he admired Junípero’s courage, “missionary zeal”, his devotion to Mary and “witness of holiness”. “What made Friar Junípero leave his home and country, his family, university chair, and Franciscan community in Mallorca to go to the ends of the earth?” Francis asked during Mass at the Pontifical North American College in Rome this May. “Certainly it was the desire to proclaim the Gospel ad gentes (to the people), that heartfelt impulse which seeks to share with those farthest away the gift of encountering Christ.” Francis finds Blessed Junipero Serra to be a saintly man and true disciple of Christ.

Let us pray. O God, in Your ineffable mercy, You chose Blessed Junipero Serra as a means of gathering many peoples of the Americas into Your Church. Grant that through his intercession our hearts may be united in You in ever greater love, so that at all times and in all places we may show forth the image of Your Only-Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.