Junípero Serra

First vineyard in our country was set out by Jean Jacques Dufour, Swiss.

Oranges, olives, dates, and grapes were brought to California by Fray Junipero Serra, Spaniard.

Fig cuttings were imported by Nedetovich of Fresno, Yugoslav.

Wild strawberry developed into large table variety by Johann Schwertkopf, German, who came to Long Island before Revolutionary War.

But it's also beautifully consistent with the history of the church.

Junipero Serra had a doctorate, I think, in philosophy.

The Black Robes, who went into the wilderness to proclaim the gospel to the Native Americans, doctorates in canon law, philosophy, and theology.

So the church was always sending her best and brightest.

Yeah, so we can see the growth and maturation of American Catholicism from the early days overcoming anti-Catholicism and then this explosion of Catholicism in the United States on population, but also just the sheer strength of American Catholicism, the vitality of it.

And so he is, in many ways, the heir to all of that, in particular, in a place like Chicago, that was one of these great bastions of Catholic life, thanks to Mundelein and others.

And that flourishing of Catholicism, especially in his family, you can trace that line all the way back to Junipero Serra, to John Carroll, to Mother Cabrini, to Catherine Drexel, and all of those who contributed to the life of the faith in America.

Beautiful.

We'll be back with a brand new episode of The Finest next week.

In 1769, Father Junipero Serra founded the first Spanish mission in California, just a couple of miles from our KPBS studio.

Back then, California was home to an estimated 300,000 indigenous people, where for centuries they had been farming, hunting, trading, making music and art, and creating complex cultures deeply tied to the land.

But the arrival of the Spanish brought disease, forced labor, and abuse.

One of the most recent events covered in the book is a new wave of activism.

It goes all the way back to the early years of contact between the Old World and New World in California.

Junipero Serra, the priest who founded California's first mission and 20 others, is sometimes hailed as a hero who brought Christianity to California.

But for many indigenous Americans, Sarah is regarded much differently.