IN a bid to spread the “cult” of America’s first martyr—an Oklahoma priest assassinated in Guatemala in 1981, a $50 million shrine was dedicated yesterday.
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ARCHBISHOP Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City said in this report:
To spread his cult, as we call it in the church, to increase devotion to him shouldn’t be hard. If somebody from Okarche, Oklahoma, can be beatified, become a saint, then good golly, anybody can.
Coakley got a bit ahead of himself. Rother hasn’t yet passed the sainthood test. He needs a verified miracle involving his intercession to become a saint. No doubt believers will step forward soon to claim a “miracle” cures for anything ranging from hangnails to haemorrhoids after praying to the slain priest.
Stanley Rother’s death
While on mission work in Santiago Aititlán, Guatemala, in 1981, Rother, a priest, was shot to death by three masked assassins who entered his rectory during the nation’s civil war, a bloody 36-year conflict which left an estimated 200,000 people killed or “disappeared.”
At the time, Rother was 46. Pope Francis recognised him as a martyr in 2016, and he was beatified a year later.
Image via YouTube
Hostility to the faith
At the dedication, Coakley, above, spoke about the example Rother set for all Catholics—clergy and laity—at a time when much of the country and world are becoming ever more hostile to the faith.
The shrine features a 2,000-seat sanctuary, a visitor centre and a gift shop. The “principal relic” there is Rother’s remains, located in the adjoining chapel.
The shrine also features a re-creation of Tepeyac Hill, the Mexico City site where Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Juan Diego in December, 1531.
Image via Facebook
No doubt anyone criticising the obscene amount lavished on this latest extravagant Catholic folly will be told that the faithful flocking to it will boost Oklahoma’s economy and may even get to outrank the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in future.
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