It is a positive move.
It’s about time Serra was canonized, the thing has been in the works for a long time and was most recently held up by the usual anti-colonial politics.
Good for Pope Francis.
Cardinal Wuerl showed some historical ignorance in his remarks to the pope. He said they were close to the first Catholic church (or where a Catholic Mass was first celebrated, I forget his wording) in what is now the United States, thinking of the colonization of Maryland in 1634. He forgot about the Spanish being in Florida long before that. There were priests on Juan Ponce de Leon's second expedition to Florida in 1521 (I don't know if any were along on his first expedition in 1513). Plus there were priests in the Narvaez expedition to Florida in 1527, and of course St. Augustine, FL, was founded in 1565.
Good show! Now to Canonize Fray Magin Catalia of Mission Santa Clara. That Padre would pray so hard he would levitate! He predicted the rise of San Francisco in 1830 and the earthquake of 1906 that same year! His cause has faltered because of Serra.