An American missionary priest killed in Guatemala 35 years ago was officially declared a martyr by the Vatican on Friday, making him the first from the U.S. The announcement puts Rev. Stanley Rother, a priest from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, at the doorstep of sainthood.
Rother, who had served 15 years in Guatemala, was shot dead at the age of 46 at his parish church in 1981. Pope Francis, the first from Latin America, signed the decree Thursday, and the Vatican announced the following morning that Rother had fulfilled the requirement of having “died in hatred of the faith,” according to USA Today.
Martyrdom puts Rother on the path to beatification, the final stage before canonization as a saint. Because of his martyrdom, Rother does not have to meet the typical sainthood requirement of performing a miracle.
The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City says it opened a Cause of Canonization for Rother on Oct. 5, 2007.
“Today we rejoice in the announcement that the Church has added a new name to the martyrology, its official list of holy men and women who have given their lives for Christ and for the Gospel,” wrote Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City on Facebook. “The martyr and Servant of God Fr. Stanley Rother has been approved for beatification.”
In a telephone interview with the New York Times, Coakley said the reason for and culprit in the 1981 killing were never determined, but noted that a paramilitary death squad was suspected of the deadly attack during a civil war in Guatemala.
