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Catholic leader approves sainthood for controversial 18th-century priest

Junipero Serra was accused of forcing many indigenous people to live in slave-like conditions in Catholic missions and of helping to destroy their languages and culture

Pope Francis leads a penitential ceremony at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on March 13, 2015

Pope Francis has formally given his blessings on Wednesday to the canonisation of Junipero Serra, an 18th-century missionary credited with evangelising California at a high price for native Americans.

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The pontiff had earlier announced that he would be declaring the Spanish-born Serra a saint at a mass in Washington DC during his visit to the United States in September.

AFP reports that opponents of the move had unsuccessfully petitioned the Vatican in a bid to block sainthood, as they had when Serra was beatified by John-Paul II in 1988.

John-Paul subsequently made a 1992 statement in which he formally asked for the forgiveness of native Americans for crimes committed during California's colonisation by European Christians.

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Serra was accused of forcing many indigenous people to live in slave-like conditions in Catholic missions and of helping to destroy their languages and culture.

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