Welcome to the Mission Basilica San Buenaventura!...the Mission by the Sea! 

At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, we hear Jesus commission His disciples (MT 28: 16-20): “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

This is our baptismal identity and calling…to be disciples of the Lord Jesus who is risen from the dead. To help us to remember who we are in Jesus and what we are called to do, you will see and read new signage in the back of the Basilica and in the foyer of O’Brien Hall. We are called to be DYNAMIC DISCIPLES.

A Dynamic Disciple Believes in Jesus as Savior.
A Dynamic Disciple Grows in following Jesus.
A Dynamic Disciple Gathers in a faith community.
A Dynamic Disciple Loves unconditionally.
A Dynamic Disciple Leads other to Jesus.

Our Ventura host Sandra Siepak interviews Fr. Tom Elewaut, Pastor of Mission Basilica San Buenaventura in February 2022 on Ventura Cable TV6.  Click here to watch the interview or visit www.ourventura.com

Click here to watch December 19, 2021 Mass with Archbishop Jose Gomez to commemorate the elevation of Mission Basilica of San Buenaventura.

Click here for a Jubilee Year Musical Tribute by Brien Alkire.

For recent or future ministies or events please view our parish bulletin link to the rightside of the website or view the calendar of events under "EVENTS" above.

Click here to view an exceptional video on the life and discipleship of St. Junipero Serra sponorded by the Knights of Columbus 2021.

Saint Junipero Serra Second Annual Walk 2022 from Santa Barbara to Ventura along the El Camino Real 

Click here to take a tour of the Mission with Fr. Tom and Joe Estevez as seen on "All Things Catholic" NETNY.TV Brooklyn, New York Television 

To help sustain the legacy of our historic MissionBasilica: please remember Mission Basilica of San Buenaventura in your Will or Trust planning.

"Siempre Adelante"  Shalom, Fr. Tom Elewaut

NOTE: Sections in red were omitted due to the two-minute time constraint although Supervisor LaVerre granted me more time to speak.

First, I offer my condolences to the Board of Supervisors and the family of Supervisor Carmen Ramirez on her premature death. The death of anyone results in loss and grief. My prayers are with all.

I wish to enter into public record a response to statements made earlier this year (May 24) when the County of Ventura Board of Supervisors voted on a new County Seal. I disagree strongly with why it was made and find the motive at variance with the facts. Thank you, Supervisor Kelly Long, for reminding us that among the alternative images, the original County Seal itself was approved by the second highest vote.

It is said that ignorance is the root cause of suffering. Dialogue is a mode of communication in which we seek to learn about each other, issues that matter to us, and in fact the world itself. So I offer the following in the spirit of dialogue.

I offer six brief facts with contemporary, and I emphasize secular historians, of Junipero Serra and the missions--Gregory Orfalea, formerly of the Claremont Colleges, author of Journey to the Sun; Drs. Rose Marie Beebe and Robert Senkewicz of Santa Clara University; and Dr. James Sandos, Professor Emeritus in History at the University of Redlands.

When we discuss the missions of Alta California, we do well to clarify that two systems were in play—the Spanish Crown seeking colonization in the territories of Indigenous peoples and the Franciscan friars whose goal was to Christianize those they called “gentiles.”

Fact #1. Junipero Serra clashed with Spanish military and governors repeatedly over treatment of the Native Americans. He defended them against land grabs, sexual assault, and even dehumanizing speech. As Orfalea notes, “Serra certainly loved his Native American neighbors beyond the norm, even for a missionary of his day. Repeatedly, he defended them, even with his own life, against the Spanish authorities. (p. 350).

Fact #2. Serra was most assuredly not a racist or pedophile or guilty of genocide. Serra chastised the Spanish governor Neve by not using the term “gente de razon” (people of reason) when he spoke of Indigenous people. In fact, in many things Serra thought the Indigenous people superior to the Spaniards! There is no evidence anywhere of Serra or any of his confreres were guilty of pedophilia. As for genocide, Dr. Sandos was clear in addressing the 2010 California Indian Conference in Irvine, “Comparison [of Franciscan acts] to genocide is false. The U.S. Government paying people to slaughter others, that’s genocide.” (p. 430). And yet these three inaccurate derogatory accusations were levied in testimony to you by Alikoi Parra, who identified herself as a descendant of the Chumash. A revered leader of the Barbarino Chumash community and registered nurse, Ernestine de Soto, filed a case with the Vatican that her daughter was cured by a Serra miracle.

Fact #3. The vast majority of reprehensible deaths of Indigenous Peoples in California were due to pandemics caused by germs, which no one, including the Spaniards who unwittingly brought them in, had any idea of how to stop. This was confirmed to you by testimony by the Ventureño Chumash former tribal chair, Julie Tumamait when she said a “pandemic” occurred. The good side of the story is, that despite this great tragedy, the Native peoples of California made a miraculous comeback and number three times as many as were there on contact in the 18th century.

Fact #4. The Indigenous peoples of California were not forced into the mission, at least not under Junipero Serra. They voluntarily came in for a variety of reasons that ranged from disorientation due to smallpox and other diseases that were ravaging their villages, to protection from inter-tribal warfare to clothing and food. Some have pointed out the beauty of the missions were an attraction. But once in, they were required to contribute to the community they joined, what historian James Sandos called “spiritual debt peonage.” They were allowed to leave with permission. No doubt some did not understand this lifestyle commitment and rebelled, and this is understandable. However, two things to point out: first, the missions were only established along the coast, covering only one-quarter of the California Native American population at the time. Less than half were ever baptized. Second, only about 10 percent ever fled the missions. This is even confirmed by research by mission critic Elias Castillo. We may ask ourselves: If things were so bad, why did 90 percent stay?

Fact #5. The floggings were by our standards wrong, but they were common punishment in the 18th century. Schoolboys in England were beaten, sadly. And let us not forget this was a frontier. What to be done with those who committed rape or homicide? Still, especially for those who did nothing more than try and escape, the floggings were, as Orfalea put it, “cruel, a violation of the Fifth Commandment. . . .Serra and Lasuen should have had the wisdom and foresight to stop it.” Serra was flawed; but so were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and even Martin Luther King. I believe their cases, and Serra’s, the goodness far outweighs the bad.

Fact #6. Academic research shows that if anyone was guilty of genocide in California, it was not the Spaniards or the Franciscans. It was the Gold Rush seekers and in his apology for California’s genocidal treatment of Native Americans, Gov. Gavin Newsom focused attention on the state’s first elected governor, Peter Hardeman Burnett, and his declaration in 1851 that Indians would be exterminated. Blame the American cavalry.

In conclusion…

Seals and Statues may come and go.

 The missions in California remain a testament to the founding of Western civilization and the introduction of the Catholic faith (which most Indigenous descendants in California profess).

 Our 21 Missions are also places of pilgrimage and tourism from around the world, and they contribute to the economy of the City and County. I am honored to be pastor of such an historic place as the Mission Basilica of San Buenaventura and to follow in the footsteps of someone who was elevated a Hispanic saint on American soil by Pope Francis—the first time this has happened in U.S. history.

Thank you for the opportunity to correct an inaccurate, inflammatory testimony about Junipero Serra that appears to have contributed to actions that do not conform to the facts.

Click here to learn about October 2022 travels.

Sister Mission Covenant

Recognized as the Head and Mother of all Missions in Alta and Baja California, the faithful parishioners of Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó, founded in 1697 in Baja California Sur, and the faithful parishioners of Mission Basilica San Buenaventura, founded in 1782 in Alta California, commit to support each other in prayer to: witness the Gospel, cultivate our religious heritage, provide temporal resources and encourage pilgrimage to all the missions in the Californias in fidelity to Holy Mother Church, the Holy Father, our respective bishops and dioceses as Sister Missions.

For centuries Loreto was inhabited mainly by pericúes Indians, who lived from picking fruit, hunting and fishing. The arrival and unsuccessful colonization of the Spaniards in 1533, and the subsequent successful Jesuit missionaries in 1697, who established in this locale the first mission of the Californias led by Father Juan Maria Salvatierra, Loreto became the historic capital of Alta and Baja California until 1777. Loreto is the starting point for the historic El Camino Real corridor that follows north along the ancient route of the Spanish missions from Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó to Sonoma, in Alta California.

From Loreto, Franciscan Friar now Saint Junipero Serra planned the missionary expedition north to Alta California. In 1782, he established Mission San Buenaventura among the native Chumash Indians who inhabited the coastal areas for centuries and were known as "bead maker" or "seashell people" who as hunters, gatherers, and fishermen, recognized their dependency on the world around them. The Mission by the Sea across from the Channel Islands became the ninth and last mission founded by Saint Junipero Serra.

In 2015, our representatives in civic government adopted a Sister City relationship. Respectively, the two national parks off our shores have inaugurated a Sister Park/Sister Reserve Project: Bay of Loreto National Park-Channel Islands National Park and the University of California Natural Reserve System.

These initiatives will benefit the greater Loreto and San Buenaventura communities by creating new economic opportunities, facilitate cultural exchange and expand education opportunities for residents. With extended outreach and ecotourism programs, the business network and social fabric of our communities will be strengthened, benefiting present and future generations.

Unique to this relationship is the religious history of our missions, which is the foundation and very fabric of our mutual heritage that has sustained our communities for centuries.

These Sister partnerships may also support each other during natural disasters or other emergencies by raising funds or collecting needed-supplies. By sharing each other’s cultures through sister relationships, communities can gain insight into the history, values and spirit that make up their sister mission, sister city, and sister national parks and reserves.

Click here to learn about the Official Sister City Charter

UNESCO: Mexico-USA Mission Preservation

Acuerdo de Hermandad de Misiones

Conocida como la cabeza y madre de todas las misiones de la Alta y Baja California, los feligreses fieles de la Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó, fundada en 1697 en la Baja California Sur y los feligreses fieles de la Misión San Buenaventura, fundada en 1782 en la Alta California, se comprometieron en apoyarse mutuamente en rezar a: ser testigos del evangelio, cultivar nuestro patrimonio religioso, proporcionar fuentes temporales y fomentar la peregrinación a todas las misiones en las Californias en fidelidad a la Santa Madre iglesia, el Santo Padre, nuestros respectivos obispos y diocesis como Misiones Hermanas.

Por siglos, Loreto fue poblado principalmente por indios pericues, quienes se sostuvieron recogiendo fruta, cazando y de la pesca. La llegada y fracaso de la colonización de los españoles en 1533 y la exitosa subsecuente llegada de los misioneros jesuitas en 1697, quienes establecieron en este lugar la primera misión de las Californias, guiada por padre Juan Maria Salvatierra, Loreto se convirtió en la capital historica de Alta y Baja California hasta 1777. Loreto es el punto de inicio del historico, El Camino Real, que continua hasta el norte junto con la ruta antigua de la misiones españolas desde la Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó a Sonoma, en Alta California.

Desde Loreto, el padre Franciscano, San Junipero Serra, planeó su viaje hacia el norte de la Alta California. En 1782, el estableció la misión de San Buenaventura junto con los indios nativos Chumash quien habitaron las areas costerias por siglos y fueron conocidos como “fabricantes de cuentas” o “gente de concha” quienes como cazadores, recolectores y pescadores, reconocieron su dependencia en su entorno. La Misión San Buenaventura fue la novena y última misión fundada por San Junipero Serra, la misión del mar, frente a las Islas del Canal.

En 2015, nuestros representantes en un acto cívico de gobierno realizaron una relación de ciudad hermana. Respectivamente, los dos parques nacionales inauguraron un proyecto de hermandad entre parques marinos: Parque Nacional Bahia de Loreto, Parque Nacional de las Islas del Canal y el sistema natural reservado de la Universidad de California.

Estas iniciativas beneficiarán las grandiosas comunidades de Loreto y San Buenaventura creando nuevas oportunidades económicas, facilitando intercambios culturales y expandiendo oportunidades educativas para los residentes. Con el alcance logrado y los programas de eco-turismo, la red de negocios y social entre nuestras comunidades serán fortalecidos, beneficiando presente y futuras generaciones.

Unica en esta relación es la historia religiosa de nuestras misiones, la cual es la fundaciòn y nuestra mutuo patrimonio que ha sido sostenido a nuestra comunidades por siglos.

Este hermanamiento puede también apoyarse, uno al otro, durante desastres naturales u otras emergencias, recolectando fondos o viveres. Al compartir la cultura del otro, a través de relaciones hermanas, las comunidades pueden obtener una perspectiva mas profunda de la historia, los valores y el espíritu que componen la misión hermana, ciudad hermana y parques y reservas nacionales.