Editorials

The California legislature has overwhelmingly passed a bill that slanders the life and works of St. Junípero Serra. In part, the legislation falsely points to “the enslavement of both adults and children, mutilation, genocide, and assault on women as part of the mission period initiated and overseen by Father Serra.” In an essay published on the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal last week, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, called the legislation’s claims a “slander” against the saint, pushing a “false narrative” about the missions the saint founded. “None of that is true,” they write. “While there is much to criticize from this period, no serious historian has ever made such outrageous claims about St. Junípero Serra or the mission system.” As a matter of fact, Professor Gregory Orfalea, author of Journey to the Sun: Junípero Serra’s Dream and the Founding of California, published in 2014, writes, “To the Indian, he [Serra] was loving, enthusiastic, and spiritually and physically devoted.” Pope Francis canonized St. Junípero Serra in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23, 2015, the first-ever canonization on American soil.

Amid the heated reaction from national leaders against the “heartbeat” law in Texas that bans abortions starting at six weeks, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said it is “tragic that political leaders, including President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), have responded with statements that ignore our nation’s sacred interest to protect the life and health of both mothers and their unborn children, instead responding with radical pledges to mobilize the full force of the federal government to block all efforts to protect the life of the child in the womb.”

We all remember where we were at the exact moment the first hijacked plane was flown into the first tower of the World Trade Center and, in what seemed like a matter of seconds, we saw another hijacked airliner hit the second tower.

As schools reopen for the academic year, this year more than ever, more parents want school choice to be available for their children. School choice empowers parents with the ability to select the schools and learning environments that best meet the needs of their children. COVID-19 changed the K–12 education landscape, at least in the short term and perhaps permanently, a survey by School Choice Week shows.

One of the arguments hurled at the pro-life community by those who are pro-abortion, including many politicians, is that the pro-life community is only pro-birth and does not provide care for the mother and her child afterward. Although nothing could be further from the truth, a congressman from Nebraska is seeking to not only bring more visibility to the countless organizations which provide care for women experiencing crisis pregnancies through birth and beyond, but also to emulate that care at the federal level and enshrine it into law.