Catholic Church to Revamp It's Teachings of the Native American Mission Experience

"With the California Mission's founder about to be named a saint, the church plans to be more sensitive to the heartache natives suffered.

With the pope expected to canonize Father Junipero Serra, who founded California’s first nine missions, the Catholic Church has announced plans to address the Native American experience with more sensitivity and truthfulness.

A Los Angeles bishop will oversee a review of third- and fourth-grade Catholic school curriculum to ensure it better reflects a contemporary understanding of Native American history, it was announced. Along with the curriculum review, church officials will review displays, signage and training materials used to train docents and guides at the state’s missions.

Bishop Edward Clark, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and a long-time liaison with the state’s Indian communities, will lead the 18- month review, which will include an examination of the cultural content at California missions under church authority.

The review will aim for culturally-sensitive and historically accurate enhancements to grade-school portrayals of Indian life, as well as to traditional teaching on the missions themselves, according to the California Catholic Conference. “The mission era gave rise to modern California, but it also gave rise to controversy and to heartache when seen through the eyes of the First Californians,” said Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto, president of the California Catholic Conference.

“For many years, the Indian experience has been ignored or denied, replaced by an incomplete version of history focused more on European colonists than on the original Californians,” he said.

The announcement comes on the eve of the canonization of Father Junipero Serra, the 18th century Franciscan priest who helped convert thousands of native Californians to Christianity.

Pope Francis is expected to canonize Father Serra on Sept. 23 during his visit to Washington, D.C.

“Today, on the verge of Father Serra’s canonization, the time has come to confront that incomplete history and to work with Native American educators, respected historians, Catholic school officials and others to change that and to reflect the best scholarship we can about that era,” said Ken Laverone, provincial vicar of the Franciscan Province of Santa Barbara, a partner in the educational effort.

Soto said the initiative will also advise on ways to make the missions relevant for tribal members.

“By definition, reconciliation isn’t just about the past, it’s also about the future,” the bishop said. “And the future of California’s missions won’t be complete until tribal members feel welcomed and included in mission life today.”

Source
http://patch.com/california/palmdesert/catholic-church-revamp-its-teachings-native-american-mission-experience