Pope Francis announced on Thursday he plans to canonize Father Junipero Serra, a missionary who brought Christianity to California in the 18th century, during Pope Francis' upcoming trip to the United States later this year.

"In September, God willing, I will canonize Junipero Serra in the United States, who was the evangelizer of the west of the United States," the pontiff said, according to the Reuters. He added he waved Church rules, which require a second miracle be attributed to a candidate considered for sainthood.

The pope's announcement was met with praise and criticism due to the controversy surrounding the Spanish Franciscan priest. Supporters revere Serra for introducing Catholicism to the state and opening nine missionaries in California. However, critics note Native Americans suffered from a cultural and physical genocide while they were converted into Christians.

"[Serra] brought the gospel for the first time into this world and that's what's very significant for practicing Christians and Catholics here today," said Andy Galvan, a curator at the Mission Dolores museum. Galvan has lobbied for Father Serra's elevation to sainthood for decades, according to ABC affliate KGO-TV.

"I said somebody pinch me. I am so ecstatic. I've been praying for this for years."

Although Serra is often referred to as "the Apostle of California" or the "Father of the Missions," Native Americans said their traditions were wiped out because of his missionary work.

"Our population was decreased as a result of the policies of the missions, diseases [and] death, which many people see as being cultural genocide -- some say physical genocide," said Vincent Medina, an Ohlone Indian who also works at the Mission Dolores as an assistant curator.

According to Steven Hackel, a professor of history at UC Riverside and the author of a biography on Serra, he "was a very assertive and aggressive missionary" that symbolizes the Catholic Church's "attempt to teach Indians to live as Spanish Catholics rather than who they were born as," the Los Angeles Times reported.

Serra was born on the Spanish island of Majorca in 1713. At the age of 36, he volunteered to travel the Americas for New World mission work. When he arrived in San Diego in 1769, he became one of the first Franciscan missions in California.

Before Serra's arrival, hundreds of thousands of indigenous people had lived in what is now known as California. However, the mission system pressured Native Americans to assimilate while exposing them to foreign diseases and wiping out villages, native animals and plants.

"It was an oppressive system for most Indians: Indians were told to pray a certain way, act a certain way, dress a certain way," Hackel said. "Once baptized, native peoples could not leave the compound without permission."

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