A $50 million shrine built to honor Stanley Francis Rother — killed by three masked assassins who entered his rectory during Guatemala's civil war — is expected to draw thousands of pilgrims to his home state.
The Field Hospital: Closed Montreal churches transformed; reasons for denied Communion are disputed; Jeremiah and McCarrick; Blessed Stanley Rother's first feast day.
NCR Today: Home from nine days in Guatemala, I have prayed in Maya circles with the Holy Family Sisters and now I have prayed as well with Maya spiritual guides.
The Field Hospital: Interfaith prayer services bring Las Vegas community together; Blessed Stanley Rother honored; St. Jude Thaddeus in Mexico; Francis announces two-year program to focus on global migration
Morning Briefing: Fr. Stanley Rother beatified; Supreme Court cancels travel ban; Nashville church shooting; Far-right party wins seats in German parliament
About 20,000 gathered Sept. 23 for the beatification of Fr. Stanley Francis Rother, a native of nearby Okarche, Oklahoma, who had been martyred in 1981 while serving in Guatemala.
Sept. 23, the people of Santiago Atitlán, Guatemalacelebrated the beatification of their beloved "Padre Apla's" with an outpouring of prayer, song and splendid display that commemorated his violent death and road to sainthood as the first U.S.-born martyr.
Pope Francis acknowledged Fr. Stanley Rother's martyrdom in December, making the Okarche, Oklahoma, native the first recognized martyr to have been born in the United States.
