Catholicism

Pope to canonize 18th-century missionary; not everyone happy

Pope Francis planned to canonize Junipero Serra during a Mass on Wednesday outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, the first canonization on U.S. soil.

The pope announced in January that Serra, a Franciscan friar from Spain revered by Roman Catholics for his missionary work, would become a saint. Francis fast-tracked his canonization by eliminating the need to show proof of two miracles. Serra was beatified in 1988.