On a recent visit to Southern California I saw once again the magnificent Mission Santa Barbara. This building is so architecturally pleasing and set in such a lovely spot it known as “Queen of the Missions.”
Santa Barbara was the 10th mission, founded by Father Fermin Lasuen after the death of Father Junipero Serra (who founded the first nine), in 1786. Several churches have been destroyed in this spot over the years; the present one was commissioned in 1815, completed in 1820, and rebuilt in 1833. It was again damaged by an earthquake in 1925, and the present facade dates from 1950.
The Spanish missions have long been an important part in California’s public school history curriculum. These religious outposts,  founded mainly by Franciscan missionaries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, were meant to spread Christian doctrine among the Native American population.
The missions were built about 30 miles apart, about a day’s horseback ride for the padres. The trail linking them came to be known as “El Camino Real” (“The Royal HIghway”). Today it follows roughly along the route of U.S. Highway 101 from San Diego to Sonoma.
Besides their overtly religious purpose, the missions also served as a way to consolidate Spain’s grip on its colony of Alta California. Because they were built with unpaid Indian laborers who were punished if they attempted to leave, some people now consider the mission system an instrument of subjugation.
There is another controversy raging concerning this chain of 21Â buildings which played such an important part in California history back when the Spanish empire ruled much of the world and the early inhabitants of California lived virtually in the Stone Age.
In 2004 Congress passed a law authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to make financial grants to the California Mission Foundation for repair and upkeep of the California Missions. The funding would be used solely for preservation of buildings and artifacts because of their historical value.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has filed a lawsuit to block this $10 million in funding. The organization claims that using public money in this way is a violation of separation of church and state. The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the group, says renovation of these buildings with taxpayer money amounts to taxpayer-support of religion since most of the missions belong to the Roman Catholic Church and hold regular worship services.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in three previous cases from the 1970s that the government may not pay for structures in which religious activities occur. No one knows how the courts will rule this time. But the stakes are high: It is estimated that more than $50 million worth of repairs are needed to preserve these historic buildings which attract more than five million visitors each year.
