Reverend Stanley Rother - Holy Trinity Cemetery, Okarche, OK - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Reverend Stanley Rother, a Catholic missionary to Guatemala, was murdered there in 1981. His body was returned to the US and interred here at Holy Trinity Cemetery. A sign at the cemetery gate directs visitors to his grave. His heart is buried in Guatemala, under the alter of the church where he served. He is the first US-born priest and martyr to be beatified by the Catholic Church. After his beatification, his remains were moved to Resurrection Cemetery Chapel in Oklahoma City, but his headstone remains here.

Description: Stanley Francis Rother was born here in Okarche, Oklahoma. Ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City in 1963, he held several parish assignments until 1968 when he was assigned to Guatemala, where he learned Spanish and the Tz’utujil language. The Tz'utujil affectionately called him "Padre A'plas," which translates as "Father Francis." He spent the next thirteen years there, with occasional trips back home. Even though he knew his life was in danger, he returned to Guatemala in 1981 where he was murdered in his Guatemalan mission rectory. His killers were never identified. On December 1, 2016, Pope Francis issued a decree confirming that Rother had been killed "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith), which would allow him to be beatified This was accomplished on September 23, 2017, during a Mass at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. He is the first US-born priest and martyr to be beatified by the Catholic Church. You can read more about Reverend Rother at the Wikipedia link below. Date of birth: 03/27/1935 Date of death: 07/28/1981 Area of notoriety: Religion Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Dawn to Dusk Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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