Pope Francis Canonizes First Saint on U.S. Soil

(WASHINGTON) — In the first canonization on U.S. soil, Pope Francis has elevated to sainthood an 18th-century missionary who brought Catholicism to the American West Coast. Francis canonized Junipero (hoo-NEE-perr-oh) Serra on Wednesday during a Mass in Washington. Serra was a Franciscan friar who marched north from Baja California with Spanish conquistadors, establishing nine of…