Blog - Jubilee

September 15, 2021: "In God’s plan of love, Mary is the one who brings us Jesus Christ. In every time and in every place. This is the beautiful role that God has given Our Lady in salvation history."

September 13, 2021: "California lawmakers have passed legislation to replace a statue of St. Junípero Serra at the Capitol in Sacramento with a new monument honoring the state’s native peoples. The Serra statue has been in storage since it was torn down by protesters in July 2020."

September 11, 2021: "We begin today a Jubilee Year and every Jubilee is an invitation from God to make a new beginning in freedom. Every Jubilee is God’s promise that we are not prisoners of our past or captives of the present."

September 8, 2021: "Two hundred and fifty years ago tonight, on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the year 1771, Mission San Gabriel Acrángel was established by St. Junípero Serra, together with Tongva natives, who were this land’s first peoples."

September 8, 2021: "In God’s plan of love, Mary is the one who brings us Jesus Christ — in every time and in every place. This is the beautiful role that God has given Our Lady in salvation history."

June 12, 2021: "Conmemoración del 250 Aniversario de la Fundación de la Misión San Gabriel Arcángel por San Junípero Serra"

June 12, 2021: Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the Founding of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel by St. Junípero Serra

28 Abril 2021: "Ahora que nuestra sociedad está empezando a salir de esta pandemia, tengo el gusto de anunciarles que este verano iniciaremos un Año Jubilar para conmemorar el 250 aniversario de la Misión San Gabriel Arcángel, la primera iglesia, fundada el 8 de septiembre de 1771, en lo que es ahora la ciudad de Los Ángeles."

April 28, 2021: "Now, as our society is turning the corner on this pandemic, I am excited to announce that this summer we will start a Jubilee Year to mark the 250th anniversary of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first church founded in what is now the metropolis of Los Angeles, on Sept. 8, 1771."

June 29, 2020: "Entiendo el profundo dolor que manifiestan algunos pueblos nativos de California. Pero también creo que Fray Junípero es un santo para nuestros tiempos, el fundador espiritual de Los Ángeles, un defensor de los derechos humanos y el primer santo hispano de este país. Yo tuve el privilegio de concelebrar con el Papa Francisco en su misa de canonización, en el año 2015. Confío en su intercesión para mi ministerio y su deseo de llevar la tierna misericordia de Dios a cada persona, es una fuente de inspiración para mí."

June 29, 2020: "I understand the deep pain being expressed by some native peoples in California. But I also believe Fray Junípero is a saint for our times, the spiritual founder of Los Angeles, a champion of human rights, and this country’s first Hispanic saint. I was privileged to celebrate his canonization Mass with Pope Francis in 2015. I rely on his intercession in my ministry, and I am inspired by his desire to bring God’s tender mercy to every person."

July 2, 2019: "Serra was a 56-year-old Franciscan friar when he came to California; he suffered from asthma and a chronic, near-crippling leg infection. He had come to the New World from Spain nearly 20 years earlier, leaving behind his family and a comfortable career teaching theology."

March 29, 2018: "Archbishop José H. Gomez signed new protocols acknowledging that Native Americans of California, as the First People of the Land, deserve special recognition and pastoral concern. The guidelines and parameters serve to welcome and include diverse indigenous traditional perspectives to enrich the prayer, faith, traditions and ceremonies of the Church and its institutions and facilities throughout the tri-county Archdiocese of Los Angeles."

September 20, 2015: "Francis is the Church’s first pontiff from the New World—the lands born from Spanish Christianity’s encounter with the indigenous peoples of North and South America in the age of Columbus and the missionaries who followed him."

August 29, 2015: "In just a few weeks Pope Francis will come to the United States to canonize Father Junípero Serra — one of the great missionaries who is associated with naming this city and dedicating it to the Queen of Angels."

May 6, 2015: "When he is declared a saint later this year, Father Serra will be the latest in a line of “missionary saints” from the Americas that Pope Francis has elevated during his pontificate. It is clear that Pope Francis — the first pope from the New World — understands the Christian “roots” of the Americas and the continent’s importance for the Church’s mission in the 21st century."

January 23, 2015: "Pope Francis announced last week that he intends to canonize Blessed Junípero Serra, OFM, when he comes to the United States next September. This is great news and I am grateful to our Holy Father for this gift to California and the Americas."