The Vatican has officially approved sainthood for Father Junipero Serra, the 18th-century missionary who founded many missions in California. In Rome, Pope Francis celebrated mass at an event in honor of Serra. Francis will canonize him during his trip to the U.S. in September, making Serra America’s first Latino saint and the first saint to be canonized on American soil. Serra’s sainthood has been controversial, with some critics saying that he brutally converted indigenous people to Catholicism.