Pope Francis celebrates first-ever Holy Mass in US

“[Serra] was the embodiment of a Church which goes forth”, the Pope said on Wednesday.

Pope Francis rejected those accusations against Serra during his homily Wednesday, acknowledging “mistreatment and wrongs” that are still remembered today, but saying the Franciscan missionary priest was a voice for the Indians.

“He was excited about blazing trails, going forth to meet many people, learning and valuing the particular customs and ways of life”, he said.

These were “abuses that today continue to upset us, especially because of the pain they cause in the lives of so many”, the pontiff added. “He kept moving forward, because the Lord was waiting”, he said.

He was named Saint Serra today. Francis mostly reflected on the Gospel reading of the day, in which Jesus commissions his disciples to go to all nations to teach the faith.

The grounds of Catholic University were packed to capacity with the highest security elements above and all around to protect the pope and the crowd.

Pope John Paul II extended a historic apology to Native Americans in 1992 for the harm inflicted upon them by the Catholic Church, and Francis himself has made strong gestures of reconciliation.

JSerra students rushed to greet Francis, holding up their cellphones to take his photo. What did the pope say about him?

They understood there were a lot of “firsts”.

At the campus nearby, people sold drinks and snacks along with commemorative rosaries and T-shirts.

Rocio Sotelo, a Garden Grove resident, said she needed to see the pope after her young brother died from a rare form of lung cancer.

Manuel Fuentes says he came from a poor family and they came to the U.S.to searching for the American Dream. “We thought it was a miracle”.

Standing next to the Carmel Mission cemetery Wednesday, where a prayer circle was underway and the smell of burning sage wafted through the air, Rudy Rosales, the former chairman of the Ohlone/Costanoan Esselen Nation, explained his devotion to the church.

Thousands of people attended to experience the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“The pope is the vicar of Christ”, she said. “I´m telling everybody in my second grade class that I was sitting here the day he made Junipero Serra a saint”. However, history also recorded that he was cruel and allegedly brutalized Native Americans. Much of the mass was conducted in Spanish. So he gave a very positive interpretation of the Junipero story. Spanish troops garrisoned near some missions were blamed for spreading syphilis and other diseases that devastated local communities.

“The missionary remains highly controversial among some groups” according to the BBC.

Nieblas said he almost cried while talking with the man many call Papa Frank.

The doctor who was ministering to him at his death was given a whole handkerchief, and later said he expected to cure more people through the power of that piece of cloth than through all of his medical books and supplies combined, Mr. Orfalea said.

“I am deeply grateful for your welcome in the name of all Americans”. “Not only as the Bishop of Rome, but also as a pastor from the South, I feel the need to thank and encourage you“. “He was so accepting and kind”.