andy galvin, his roots go back to the california missions, his heart is in the california missions, and he knows all about the california missions. he's our guest today on mosaic. andy, thanks for being with us. >> thank you. happy to be here. you are quite the guy, and i don't want to say you're wearing your heart on your sleeve, but you do have a mission shirt on! >> we have these shirts on sale at our mission store, and all the other california mission shirts. are they wash and wear? they dry nicely? >> yes. andy, if there's one show i would want to have more time for, it's this one. you have so much to tell us. the california missions, you do

pilgrimages to the mission. as present, the missions in california -- i'm from philadelphia -- kind of like independence mall in philadelphia. they are there and they are terrific and they are huge, but they get overlooked. >> right. tell us about it. how many are there? >> well, the california missions, main thing to remember-- >> you're the curator. >> san francisco, been there since 2004. my claim to fame, the reason i would say bill justice hired me, not because i was qualified and knew something about california missions, but in the year 1794, my great, great great grandfather was baptized in the old church when i was 3 years old. that church dates to 1371. my great, great, great, great

grandfather, he was from across the bay in a town we call rothmore, california, a bayme walk indian. his wife was baptized there in 1802 and she's from a town we call heyward, california. so i have my ancestors go back. i have a long-term relationship with the place. and you yourself live by no small coincidence in mission, san jose. >> that's where my great, great, great grandfather planted the tree when he moved from san francisco mission to mission san jose in 1818 and married a patwin woman indian there. our family tree is there and we're still very much involved. and your folks are still there? >> mom and dad are there, both live with the sister in the holy family. we have the dominican sisters across the street. if you want to tell us the best thing about the california mission, what would that be? >> i'm very involved in the

canonization process. i worked for him for 20 years, i was at his death bed. the friars let me have his ring when he passed away. he was promoting the cause to have father made a saint for four years. we had be atrophy indication in 1988. i was there, participated in that ceremony, presented john paul ii with the offertory and met the holy father afterwards. with the missions, too, andy, sometimes we hear stories. is there anything to clear up about father sarah, anything known about his good work that's sometimes missed? >> often there are detract tores, which good scholarship is undoing a lot of those claims in which we're attempting to do, so that when canonization comes, the news media won't go for sensationalism, but will also go for he's a holy man, living a holy life in california. california is only 15 years of

his life. he's just as many years in mexico, 35 years in spain. but the one thing i would want to say about sarah would be today, sarah would be analogous to when we find a good person in a very, very bad situation. often, we'll find school teachers. sometimes media will do a story about a teacher coping pages in the text book so the children in the classroom who the school can't afford to buy books for, so the children will have papers. we call that a good person in a very, very bad situation. i say he was a very, very good man in a very, very bad institution that we call colonialism. okay. his is a great story. we hope to continue and sing to it down the road. >> we're looking for a miracle right now. tell us about mission delores. let's start there, then we'll expand, talk about your pilgrimage. >> our mission church, for

historical questions, is the oldest standing intact building in the city and county of san francisco, as well as the oldest standing building -- i have to qualify this. the oldest standing building dedicated to christian worship in the entire modern state of california. there's no other building, no other four walls dating from 1791 that are intact and still together. people in san francisco say we have three crumbling walls. i say you have to stare at them, somebody has to take a laser point to show you those walls. mission delores, they are intact. then i'll get people down at monterrey, well, our stone church dates from 1794. i have to remind them, 1791. someone needs to change the bulletin at monterrey. oldest continuous active church, three years younger than us. it's a wonderful place. you have the grave yard there,. >> the cemetery, vertigo was shot in, over 6000 indians buried in our cemetery.

i call 5000 other people that came through the gold rush. i can walk you through the cemetery, go to the grave markers and it's a virtual who's who of san francisco. i know over 10 dissertations written on people buried in the cemetery. first starts with the indians. those are the most important people buried there. tell us about that. you come from native american -- you like the word indian. >> i prefer the word indian. i didn't hear the word native american until i started high school. one of my professors pulled me aside and said, andy, don't do that, you're perpetuating colonialism. i said what the hell are you talking about! i didn't understand the big word. indian is a term my grandmother used. she self identified as an indian. the reason i prefer indian -- where were you born? >> i was born in darby, pennsylvania. >> so you're born in american. i tell people if you were born

in north, central, south america, you're a native american. the goal is this, we all own the history. if we don't own that you're a native, indian history isn't your history. if you claim to be a native, then the history of the indian world is also your history. thank you for that, and amen. we're going to take a break on mosaic and we'll be back with mosaic. if you have fourth graders in the house, wake them up, because that mission project is something he can help them with. ,,,,,,,,

welcome back to mosaic. today, we're here with andy galvin. andy's heart and soul and beginnings are in the california vision. he is the curator for mission delores in san francisco and he is going to tell us about so much more about the mission. you -- tell us about this

pilgrimage. i don't think we know about the many opportunities there are and see the missions in different perspectives. >> for about 10 years now, the francis can pilgrimage company has been putting together tours for the california missions. rather than trying to do all 21 missions, the upper california missions, san diego to sonoma in one trip, the program has been divided into three segments, so one year would be the northern mission, from sonoma north to sole dad, south. central california missions is the san antonio, san miguel, south to san ventura. the southern missions would be down to san diego. the pilgrimage is not a tour. it's a pilgrimage going to each site, focusing on the saint or the name of that particular mission, spending time at each mission in prayer and we tell the history, we provide the background of the indians there, of the padres who were there,

the politics that happened, the procedures if there's one there. what it's based on is the pilgrimage company started about 40 years ago, taking san franciscoans to have an experience. it was in rome, then developed into a little bit more, then finally was, what do we do about people in the united states and so it was the california pilgrimage. these are several-day events. >> these are usually about a week long. >> stay at a retreat house. and we try to avoid staying in the city near the shopping and the theaters, that type of stuff, because we're a pilgrimage. it's not a retreat either. it's not a tour. but we go as pilgrims to these missions and we spend time in prayer at each mission. plus doing the historical tour. you would have a hard time keeping me away from the-- >> and the casino's right next door. but i love that mission there. i had a family issue, had to be

in santa barbara and i came back and saw it. michael mahoney was pastor then. wonderful. he let me camp there, let me stay overnight. i'll tell you, andy, i felt surrounded. it was so peaceful. >> yeah, the missions are great places. however, we need to remember the indian experience wasn't that peaceful. i mean, it was -- colonialism is not the best thing around. if you're a native people and a foreign country is coming in, it's politics going on today. foreign country comes in, they want to exploit the people there. they tell you we're doing something good for you, but in the meantime, we're taking all your gold away. today, we go to another country, take their oil away and then we say we did something good for you. but i celebrate in our family that the franciscoan missionary brought our faith. you got to look at what was good out of it. most of my family today are practicing catholics today. andy, it's wonderful we have people like yourself, curator at our missions, that know both

sides of the story and you're willing to share it. we can say the missions are a no-spin zone, huh? >> when bill justice, bishop bill hired me, he gave me only two directives. don't embarrass me, which i try not to do. and two was tell the truth. that's what we do. we're trying to even-handedly tell the story. not so much that the story for years have been told by the conquerors, the europeans, now being told by the conquers, the indian folks, but a balanced perspective, both sides of the story and then let people make a decision. tell us more of that truth now. let's talk about fourth grade mission. >> okay. i'll never forget, fourth grade day there. they are staples. >> yes, we say a pilgrimage, part of a rite of passage for fourth graders in the state of california, part of their

curriculum, that they make a trip to a mission. at mission delores, we have 30,000 students visit us on organized tours. the children come and we give them about an hour-long, hour and a half-long tour of the cemetery, of our museum, and of the mission church and we try to dial dialogue with them. i emphasize the native perspective. years ago when the children were on the tour, there would be a drawing of a facade of mission delores, the front of the building. five years ago, i had to show a house, a house like our ancestors live in. now that seems to be the highlight, one, they can go in it, two, this is where the group pictures are taken. when we get thank you notes, this is the picture the children draw on the thank you notes. >> of course you still love forths. >> of course, kids are kids. and the teachers and parents

enjoy it. are these opportunities available at most of the missions? >> yes, they are. >> is there a network of curators? like do you know everybody? >> pretty much if you've been around, there are a couple organizations in california that helped support it at our missions. one is more of a professional organization, called the california mission studies association, and i believe we have a website, california.missions.org. we'll show that website. >> and they have a directory of all 21 missions, so you can click onto that particular mission and then go and do some research and write for information. the website will provide a lot of information. the other one that provides a lot of help to curators and to the missions is the california mission foundation, cmf. the hearst family started it. they are a major device for fund-raising, rest rage projects at our mission.

and they also give out grants for money they have raised. do you talk to other missions? >> yes, we're interactive. there is an annual curator mission in santa barbara where we get together and call it the wizards meeting. we get together. you have a support group, too. >> yeah. we're going to take a break. give us 10 seconds on san rafael. >> mission san ray fail has terri bruner's got the best thing going o she is building that. next year she is hosting the california mission studies conference there. and we can find out more about her at the website? >> yes. we'll be back on mosaic.

welcome back to mosaic. today, we are here with andy galvin, curator of mission delores in san diego, and a big fan of all the missions, great supporters of pilgrimages to the missions and tours. again, let me point out the shirt. you're wearing the shirt, with all the missions-- >> all the missions, different missions, mission delores is special, close to my heart. and is available in your gift shop? >> it's available at our gift shop at mission delores, yes. lot of tourists will buy them. do you have other shirts that have other things going on? >> san francisco, the typical tour stuff. what a great idea! was this your idea? >> no, it was our gift shop manager. i know you can get them at capistrano mission. i believe san diego carries them, san luis. great idea. i'll tell you how much i know about the mission. where's-- >> he's got the big place

insanity bash ratchet. yeah, but that's -- there were so many we think about, but there were so many people involved in the development of the missions, weren't there, andy? >> today there are lot of things you can learn about a california mission. i always try to undo the myth. first thing, people will say the missions were build one day's journey apart. never happened. never happened. even today if you get in the car, they are about 30 miles apart. that was at the very end, the height of the mission. most of the missions were about a three-day's journey. it leaves one place in the morning, two nights you camp out in the wilderness. day three, you arrive at the next mission, stay there, visit for a while, replenish supplies, then get back on the road. i want to ask you, though, how is it plotting? there's a story here that archbishop in san francisco,

back in the baby boom when the parishes were developing, he drove down thele camino and said buy that lot, buy that lot. but how did the missions develop? >> san diego, santa barbara, monterrey, san francisco, they were military outposts. the spanish were coming north because they were afraid of the russians coming down and they were already having problems with the brits. francis drake was robbing them like mad here in the san francisco area. so the four preceded them, and then the mission, each had a mission attached, because the way you built, was first you built the mission, gathered the indians, taught the indians how to build a mission. then guess what, have them build the precede yum. then the missions in between were filled in, so you went to san diego, then mission, santa

barbara-- >> how long a project was it? >> the mission started in upper california, 1759, finished about 1834. so we also forget that when the mission starts in san diego 1769, the mission system was already 100 years old. the first mission is a hundred years older down in baja, california. so there's over 30 missions in baja and so mission san diego i tell people is not the first mission. it's a continuation of a long trip. andy, you're loving this trip and i hope you are at home. archbishop mitty who said buy that lot, buy that lot on the el camino. we're coming back on mosaic.

welcome back to mosaic. i was telling andy to not share anything while we're off camera, so you won't miss anything he has to say. you have so many great things to say. we're talking about the california missions. you're the curator at old mission delores in san francisco. you're part of the huge 22-mission line here in the state of california, but you have ties to st. mary's cathedral, celebrating 40 years in 2011. >> i remember being a high school student, st. joseph high school, and we were part of the choir in 1971, a wonderful memory. beautiful picture of it. and tell us about -- archbishop -- a little story-- >> he comes to california, really his country. he had been a country dominican pastor, then ends up being bishop monterrey, then moves to the diocese up to san francisco because this is where the action

was in 1853. we have stories from the sisters of the holy family. he founded the sisters of the holy family. >> god bless them. >> with the pastor at mission delores, and across the street from mission delores. >> does a wonderful job. >> they celebrated a hundred years on that corner, 1914, 1911 was the time it was selected to build there. anyway, al many was out in the country on a horse and buggy, probably in the east bay or something, and the horse or donkey or whatever it was wouldn't move, so all many gets out to push the horse, horse takes off and there's the archbishop stuck out in the middle of nowhere! i know what our current archbishop would do if the car died! he would get on a cell phone today and call for help. all many is out in the middle of the country. you said he lived almost in squander. >> oh, yes, he lived in poverty, but he also lived at the

cathedral there on grant-- >> sure. >> and it was coast time and he an apartment up in the corner lot. and the story says when things get hot in the apartment, he had a rope ladder and he would go up his ladder and he would pull up the rope behind him and he would stay there and wait till one of the sisters of the holy family would holler up, things are cool now, your excellency, you can come down! he would hide out there. i don't know what the archbishop would think of doing that today. our poor bishop does get beat up, so they need a place to hide. >> amany, i would say that. god bless them all. andy, we don't have much time left. once again, people can google mission delores. >> google mission delores. archdiocese website. get to our parrish website. >> can they buy the shirt online? >> no, come to the gift shovel. what are the hours? >> we're open 9:00 to 4:00 p.m. every day of the week.

>> walk-ins welcome? >> oh, yes, come right in. organized tours, if you contact me, we can set up a tour. we're trying also to do local parrish pilgrimages to the mission. how many visitors do you get a year? >> 300,000 visitors a year. >> all of them walk away with something? >> all of them walk away with something. >> we want to walk away with something today. >> the missions were the way that the gospel arrived here in california. the person who brings the gospel to california, a role model for us as a hero how to live the life of a good christian in a changing environment. he's a francis can, follower of francis. what's the name of our archdiocese, what's the name of the mission, so we're following francis and bottom line, it's all about following jesus. indeed. thank you so much for being with us. visit mission delores, visit all the missions. he's andy gall van. i'm tom burke. thanks for joining us on mosaic.