Another version - ** GUATEMALA [and non]. OKLAHOMA PRIEST NAMED FIRST U.S.-BORN MALE MARTYR BY POPE --- Vatican recognition clears path for Rother's beatification --- Staff and Wire Reports Dec 2, 2016
The martyrdom of the Rev. Stanley Rother is now recognized by Pope Francis, making the former Okarche priest the first U.S.-born male martyr in history, according to the Catholic News Service. Pope Francis put the American priest killed during Guatemala's civil war on the path to possible sainthood by signing the martyrdom decree Thursday, according to The Associated Press. Rother had been in Guatemala translating the New Testament into an Indian dialect. Rother is the first U.S.-born priest to receive such recognition. The official recognition of Rother’s martyrdom was announced Dec. 2 by the Vatican, clearing the path for his beatification, the CNS reported. Pope Francis received His Eminence Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., Prefect of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints, and authorized the Congregation to promulgate the decree recognizing the martyrdom of Rother. Rother was assassinated in 1981 while serving as a missionary in Guatemala, where he served as pastor of the parish of Santiago Atitlan. In June 2015, Rother was recognized formally as a martyr by a special Theological Commission at the Congregation of the Causes of Saints in Rome. This recognition is the final stage before canonization as a saint, something the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City's Cause to have Father Rother beatified has been working on for several decades. The positio on the life and martyrdom of Father Rother previously had been discussed and approved by a panel of nine theologians and more recently by a group of 15 cardinals and archbishops who voted affirmatively to recognize his martyrdom in odium fidei (in hatred of the faith). The positio refers to the volume containing the evidence that was collected from witness testimonies in both Oklahoma and Guatemala, and supporting documents during an inquiry conducted by a special tribunal of the Archdiocese created to carry out this investigation. The signing of this decree now opens the way for his beatification, since an approved miracle is not required in a cause of martyrdom. However, in order for Rother to be canonized, an alleged miracle due to his intercession occurring after the promulgation of this decree must be recognized as having no scientific explanation and approved by the Vatican. Francis, history's first Latin American pope, has made clear that he believes priests killed during Latin America's right-wing dictatorships died out of hatred for the faith, including Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero. The beatification ceremony could come as early as next fall. "We’re just thrilled, and grateful to God and to all those who have worked to promote the cause of Father Rother," said the Most Rev. Paul S. Coakley, archbishop of Oklahoma City. "The church needs heroic witnesses to advance the mission of Christ, and Father Rother was truly a heroic witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He gave his life in pastoral service to his people. I am looking forward to the celebration of his beatification." Once beatified, the next step of Rother’s cause will require a verified miracle before he can be canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church. Rother arrived at Santiago Atitlan in 1968 at age 33. Before arriving in Guatemala, he previously had served in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Durant. He served in Guatemala while a 36-year civil war was being fought and, as a result, dozens of people went missing, were murdered and tortured every day. More than 200,000 people were killed during the civil war. Rother was placed on a death list in Guatemala, which prompted him to flee to the United States. He arrived in Oklahoma City Jan. 28, 1981. He returned to Guatemala several months later. Three gunmen, assumed to be a right-wing death squad, assassinated Rother on July 28, 1981, in the parish rectory, but the unknown killers have never been brought to justice. In the months to follow, the indigenous people of Santiago Atitlan, the Tzutujil, protested the return of Rother's body to Oklahoma. In a compromise, the Tzutuil kept the priest’s heart in a half-gallon jar while his body was flown for burial in his native Oklahoma. When his vital organ was relocated to a more prominent location a decade after his martyrdom, the blood had not congealed, according to eyewitnesses of the excavation reported in a 2006 Oklahoma Gazette cover story (Enid Eagle Dec 3 via DXLD) Gross. We are following this process, not out of pride but because proto-Saint Rother was involved in ex SW/MW station 2390, La Voz de Atitlán. I once visited picturesque Atitlán myself and saw the building but the station was not active at the time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -------------------------------------------- On Sun, 12/4/16, Don Moore via Hard-Core-DX <[email protected]> wrote: Subject: [HCDX] La Voz de Atitlan Guatemala To: "HCDX" <[email protected]> Date: Sunday, December 4, 2016, 10:27 PM I saw this article in the New York Times today about an American priest who was killed by military death squads in Guatemala in 1981. Long time DXers may remember this event. Among other killed in that period was the manager of La Voz de Atitlan. The first link is to the NYT article. The second recounts my later visits to the town. In 1987 I got stuck there overnight during a month when the death squads were active. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/02/world/americas/stanley-rother-priest-martyr.html http://www.pateplumaradio.com/central/guatemala/atitlan.html Don Moore --- [email protected] Humpty Dumpty was pushed. Radio & Latin American website: http://www.pateplumaradio.com/ _ Hard-Core-DX mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ _______________________________________________ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html
