Community Chat

[Oostende]

Did anyone else see that this old Catholic mission burned?

I don't have any details about the origin of the fire, which is still under investigation. 

I just know the mission predates the United States.  It's 249 years old.

For those of us who love architecture and history, it is a tragic loss.

I hope it can be restored.

[cactusgal]

That is just sad, the last time I was there. Was for my aunts funeral in 2006.

[MorningLover]

This is beyond sad. I read the church had been preparing to reopen next weekend following a four month closure to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

[Oostende]

I think you're right, @MorningLover .  I read that it had just been extensively restored.

I have a particular fondness for the old missions.  I visited many of them when I lived in California.

My great-grandparents taught at one of the mission schools during WWII.  It was common in those days to hire Indians to teach Indians.  (I'm Native American, although I grew up calling myself and my people Indian.  Old habits die hard.)  

It feels like a piece of family history has burned down.

[Kachina624]

I hope this wasn't some sort of misguided arson.  These old missions are priceless treasures.  We have many in New Mexico.

[FlowerBear]

a friend in LA told me about it and said that other missions are on alert now.  wonder if it was arson!?

[Oostende]

I've been to many of them, @Kachina624 .  I grew up in the Southwest.  The missions are a wonderful melding of Indian and Spanish architecture.  They have a feel all their own.  

[DiAnne]

My paternal grandparents are buried in the cemetery at the mission.  

[MorningLover]

The July 11th mission church fire came at nearly the same time a Florida man set a church on fire.  

Ocala, FL — The Marion County Sheriff’s Office was called to the Queen of Peace Church in Ocala at 7:30 am Saturday. Deputies say a man drove his van through the front of the church, poured gas in the foyer, lit the church on fire, then took off.

 Parishioners were inside getting ready for a morning mass. They were able to escape the church. No one was hurt. The fire was put out quickly by Marion County Fire Rescue.

A Florida man has been arrested and is now in jail facing several charges including attempted murder and arson. 

[Isobel Archer]

Wasn't it founded by Junipero Serra - whose statue has recently been destroyed by those who claim he persecuted indigenous peoples?