I guess he's been bored during the lockdown, and over the weekend homophobic SF Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone decided to stage some religious theater at the spot in Golden Gate Park where that statue of Father Junipero Serra was toppled ten days ago.
"I’ve been feeling great distress and sort of a deep wound in my soul when I see these horrendous acts of blasphemy and disparaging of the memory of Serra — who was such a great hero," Cordileone says in the video footage seen below, posted by the archdiocese, of the rosary prayer and exorcism that Cordileone performed Saturday at the statue's pedestal near the deYoung Museum.
The archbishop was joined by some local believers, everyone dutifully masked, and he said his prayers and proclamations about this act of "evil" committed by protesters who say that Serra was a colonizer who enabled the genocide of indigenous Californians 250 years ago. Multiple schools, streets, and other statue sites named for Serra are likely to be re-examined in the coming months, and some Catholic scholars are hoping to preserve the kinder view of Serra — who was canonized by Pope Francis five years ago — which is presented by these monuments.
"An act of sacrilege occurred here that is an act of the evil one," Cordileone said. "Evil has made itself present here."
Cordileone spoke out last week in the wake of the statue toppling, defending Serra's legacy and insisting that he had been kind to Native Americans.
"St. Serra made heroic sacrifices to protect the indigenous people of California from their Spanish conquerors, especially the soldiers," Cordileone said. "All of this is not to deny that historical wrongs have occurred, even by people of good will, and healing of memories and reparation is much needed."
But is this statue really a religious site, dude? C'mon now.
