Missions are dear to Californians, but should they get U.S. funds?

Published: 2004-12-17

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Just about every fourth-grader in California takes a class trip to a Catholic church, as part of the required curriculum on state history. When you live in a place where Europeans arrived in the form of Spanish missionaries who built a string of church-centered enclaves stretching from San Diego to Sonoma, it is a rite of passage for students in both public and private schools to visit one of the 21 historic Spanish missions. As a matter of course, "you do have to talk about religion," said Tom Adams, executive director of curriculum frameworks and instructional resources for the state department of education. The missions are so broadly accepted as an integral part of California's history and culture that a bill to spend $10 million of federal money for their restoration over five years easily passed in Congress and was signed into law by President George W. Bush Nov. 30. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, and Rep. Sam Farr, all California Democrats and none of whom is Catholic, were the bill's primary sponsors. In 1998 the costs of restoring the missions was estimated at $50 million. The legislation calls for a current study of restoration needs. But in the view of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the law is taking things too far. The Washington-based organization filed suit in federal court Dec. 2 challenging the constitutionality of the California Missions Preservation Act.

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