Was Saint Junipero Serra Jewish?
Saint Junipero Serra – the founder of the first of the Catholic missions to California – is an eighteenth century Spanish missionary priest from the Balearic Islands or more specifically Mallorca. As a Franciscan friar and missionary he died in Carmel-by-the-Sea on 28th August 1784 from tuberculosis.
He has also become controversial in recent years following accusations from ‘Native’ American groups that he was actively involved in their so-called ‘genocide’. (1)
What interests us is whether this Roman Catholic Saint was of jewish ancestry as Stephen Schwartz has claimed. He writes that:
‘His ethnicity, though, is enigmatic. He declared when he took Franciscan vows that he had no Jewish or Muslim ancestry. But Mallorca, unlike other territories of the Spanish motherland, sheltered the descendants of converted Jews and Muslims. Restrictions on the residence of these conversos in Palma de Mallorca, its main city, were revoked in 1782 by Spanish king Carlos III.
Serra—meaning “saw”—was a common family name among converted Catalan and Mallorcan Jews, reflecting their involvement in carpentry and other aspects of woodworking. Serra’s maternal grandmother’s family names were Abraham, on her father’s side, and Isaac, through her mother. The family of Pere Serra, in Petra, may have been descended from Arab slaves freed when they became Christians.
In truth, we know little about Junípero Serra.’ (2)
Schwartz made a similar if slightly different argument elsewhere when he wrote that:
‘The issue of Muslim and Jewish ancestry in Mallorca touches dramatically on Serra. Mallorca has long been known in Jewish studies as the home of a mysterious community, the xuetes (pronounced chuetas), who converted to Christianity but did not fully integrate -- they allegedly maintained Jewish traditions in secret and married only within a cluster of 15 families.
There is also a well-known roster of 85 names of families that converted from Judaism or had members accused of secret Jewish worship, and "Serra" is one of them. In addition, the main Serra family of Petra, to which Junipero Serra probably belonged, seems to have been descended from Muslim slaves who converted to Christianity and were then freed.
Thus, Font and other Catholic intellectuals and dignitaries in Mallorca now believe Serra descended from converted Jews and Muslims.
They point out that he was turned down as a priestly novice the first time he applied, and note that his maternal grandmother's family was named Abraham on one side and Isaac on the other. This, the most significant bit of evidence, made him Jewish by rabbinical law.
In any event, Serra was determined to become a priest, and the Franciscan functionary who first rejected him, Fra Antoni Perello, eventually became his mentor and protector. But Serra had to sign a statement declaring he had no Jewish or Muslim ancestors when he entered the Franciscan order.
The vow was apparently made falsely, which would not undermine the credibility of his Catholicism but would have made his situation precarious nonetheless. Serra came to the New World after a sudden decision in 1749, at the age of 36, when he was a prominent philosophy teacher in Palma and might have expected to enjoy a long and honored career. Perello, his "protector," had died.’ (3)
Looking at this Schwartz’s case is not a strong one as even he tacitly admits when he declares that ‘in truth, we know little about Junípero Serra.’ (4)
His argument for Serra having jewish ancestry boils down to the following three claims.
Firstly that ‘Serra’ (= ‘Saw’) was a common last name for conversos on Mallorca and reflects the fact that many were carpenters.
Secondly that both Serra’s maternal grandmother’s family used common jewish first names notably Abraham and Isaac.
Thirdly that when Serra’s mentor and alleged protector Father Antoni Perello died. Serra opted to set aside his university career and head off to become a Catholic missionary in the Americas.
The problem with these are simple enough in that although ‘Serra’ was a common surname among conversos in Mallorca. It is by no means unique to them and was used by other families associated with carpentry that weren’t jewish. As Schwartz himself admits even if this meant that the family converted to Christianity; it is as – if not more – likely that they converted from Islam not Judaism as he tacitly admits.
We also don’t know enough about why Serra’s maternal grandmother’s family used the first name Abraham and Isaac, but another solution that Schwartz doesn’t mention is that this could mean they were converts from Islam. Since the first names Ibrahim (= Abraham) and Ishaq (= Isaac) were – and are – common among Muslims. The family then simply Christianised their first names rather than taking new ones upon the resumption of Christian rule on Mallorca.
As to Schwartz’s third point – which is a speculative conjecture at best – we do not know why Serra was originally rejected by the Franciscans nor what happened for Perello to later admit him to the order.
The idea that Serra left his position as the Duns Scotus Professor of Philosophy at the Lullian University in Mallorca because he was concerned that his jewish heritage would be discovered and that he would have been found to have sworn falsely upon his entry to the Franciscan order that he did not have any jewish or Muslim ancestors is rather absurd.
This is because he was actually assigned to this work by Perello and the Franciscan order itself. (5) Ghezzi points out in contrast to Schwartz that Serra left for the Americas in order to pursue the missionary work that he desired to undertake and that he had been held back from doing this by his obedience to the Franciscan order’s rule. (6) Therefore when Perello died; Schwartz’s new superior in the Franciscan order allowed him to go to the Americas rather than continue his work at the Lullian University.
Schwartz also pointedly leaves out the fact that Serra didn’t immediately go to the Americas to conduct mission work, but rather was sent to the Americas by the Franciscan order itself to teach philosophy at the Apostolic College of San Fernando in Mexico City. (7) Before he then sought and received permission from the order to conduct mission work among the people of California and Mexico.
This all rather puts pay to Schwartz’s case, because we can see that it is speculative at best but also does not fit the facts that Schwartz manipulates to make it seem like he has a stronger case than he in fact does.
So, no: there is no evidence that Saint Junipero Serra was jewish.
References
(1) For example: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/22/us/to-some-indians-in-california-father-serra-is-far-from-a-saint.html
(2) https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2015/05/junpero-serra
(3) https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/The-Cult-of-Junipero-Serra-On-the-island-of-2984863.php
(4) https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2015/05/junpero-serra
(5) Bert Ghezzi, 2000, ‘Voices of the Saints’, 2nd Edition, Loyola Press: Chicago, p. 608
(6) Ibid.
(7) Ibid.