Father José Barona, O.F.M. was

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

a priest of the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

Order, and a Spanish missionary in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Born in July, 1764 at Villa-Nueva del Conde, in the archdiocese of Burgos, Old Castile, Father Barona entered the Order of St. Francis at the Villa de Velorado in the Province of

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of ...

on July 18, 1783. He arrived at the missionary

College of San Fernando de Mexico The College of San Fernando de México was a Roman Catholic Franciscan missionary college, or seminary (''Colegio Apostólico''), founded in Spanish colonial Mexico City by the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor on October 15, 1734. The institution w ...

on August 24, 1795, and set out from there in 1798 to labor in the

Spanish missions in California The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. Founded by Catholic priests ...

. Upon arrival in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, Fray Barona performed his first

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

Mission San Diego de Alcalá Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá ( es, Misión San Diego de Alcalá) was the second Franciscan founded mission in The Californias (after San Fernando de Velicata), a province of New Spain. Located in present-day San Diego, California, it ...

on August 4 of that same year. In early 1811 Father Barona was transferred to Mission San Juan Capistrano, registering his first baptism at that station on April 26. In 1826 Father Barona refused to take the oath of allegiance to the "bogus republic of Mexico" despite the fact that he (along with all of the other Spanish missionaries) had previously sworn to the

Independence of Mexico The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...

; then

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

José María de Echeandía José María de Echeandía (?–1871) was twice Mexican governor of Alta California from 1825 to 1831 and again from 1832 to 1833. He was the only governor of California that lived in San Diego.José Bandini, in a note to Governor Echeandía or ...

nevertheless recommended that Barona not be deported when the law of December 20, 1827 (requiring the expulsion of all Spaniards younger than sixty years of age) took effect in California.Engelhard 1922, p. 223: On June 7, 1829 Echeandía wrote on Barona's behalf, "''Fr. José Barona; age, sixty-six years; broken in health; decided to take the oath in 1826 as far as compatible with his religious profession and as long as he remained in the

Mexican Republic Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

''." José Barona remained at San Juan Capistrano, where he ministered to the natives until his death on August 4, 1831. Barona's remains were subsequently interred beneath the floor of the "Great Stone Church," where they rest beside the remains of Fathers Vicente Fustér and Vicente Pascual Oliva.

Notes

References

* , pp. 214–218. 1764 births 1831 deaths Roman Catholic missionaries in Mexico Spanish Friars Minor Priests of the Spanish missions in California Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in New Spain {{US-reli-bio-stub