Dr. Ruben Mendoza, professor of archaeology at Cal State Monterey Bay, has been invited to Rome to participate in two events focusing on Junipero Serra.

On April 30, he will join three other scholars at a news conference, where they will provide an overview of Father Serra’s life and legacy. Media members from all over the world are expected to attend.

On May 2 at a seminary in Vatican City, he will participate in a symposium examining the canonization of Father Serra. Pope Francis is expected to attend.

“My participation is a result of my, and my students, 20 or so years of archaeological and historical fieldwork in the California missions,” Dr. Mendoza said.

“Given that only four Serra scholars from North America have been invited to present with a host of theologians and other scholars from the Vatican and Europe, I am truly honored to serve in such a capacity.”

Dr. Mendoza is one of the researchers whose work has prompted a reappraisal of Serra, whom Pope Francis is expected to elevate to sainthood in September.

In a March interview, Dr. Mendoza told the Los Angeles Times that he grew up believing that Father Serra, founder of nine of the California missions, imposed a slave system that destroyed the Indians’ way of life.

“Dig a little deeper,” he told the Times, “and you’ll find evidence of a new diverse society flourishing, one that makes California and its Latino culture unique.”