The Valley Catholic December 13, 2016 | Page 17

tvc . dsj . org | December 13 , 2016 in the church 17 Pope Recognizes Martyrdom of Oklahoma Priest Killed in Guatemala

By Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis has recognized the martyrdom of Father Stanley Rother of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City , making him the first martyr born in the United States .

The Vatican made the announcement Dec . 2 . The recognition of his martyrdom clears the way for his beatification .

Father Rother , born March 27 , 1935 , on his family ’ s farm near Okarche , Oklahoma , was brutally murdered July 28 , 1981 , in a Guatemalan village where he ministered to the poor .

He went to Santiago Atitlan in 1968 on assignment from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City . He helped the people there build a small hospital , school and its first Catholic radio station . He was beloved by the locals , who called him

“ Padre Francisco .”

Many priests and religious in Guatemala became targets during the country ’ s 1960-1996 civil war as government forces cracked down on leftist rebels supported by the rural poor .

The bodies of some of Father Rother ’ s deacons and parishioners were left in front of his church and soon he received numerous death threats over his opposition to the presence of the Guatemalan military in the area .

Though he returned to Oklahoma for a brief period , he returned to the Guatemalan village to remain with the people he had grown to love during the more than dozen years he lived there .

He was gunned down at the age 46 in the rectory of his church in Santiago Atitlan . Government officials there put the blame on the Catholic Church for the unrest in the country that they said led to his death . On the day he died ,

Father Stanley Rother ( Photo courtesy of www . tulsaworld . com )

troops also killed 13 townspeople and wounded 24 others in Santiago Atitlan , an isolated village 50 miles west of Guatemala City .

Many priests and religious lost their lives and thousands of civilians were kidnapped and killed during the years of state-sponsored oppression in the

At Christmas , Recognize Your Sin and Let God Caress You , Pope says country .

While his body was returned to Oklahoma , his family gave permission for his heart and some of his blood to be enshrined in the church of the people he loved and served . A memorial plaque marks the place .

Father Rother was considered a martyr by the church in Guatemala and his name was included on a list of 78 martyrs for the faith killed during Guatemala ’ s 36-year-long civil war . The list of names to be considered for canonization was submitted by Guatemala ’ s bishops to St . John Paul II during a pastoral visit to Guatemala in 1996 .

Because Father Rother was killed in Guatemala , his cause should have been undertaken there . But the local church lacked the resources for such an effort . The Guatemalan bishops ’ conference agreed to a transfer of jurisdiction to the Oklahoma City Archdiocese .

VATICAN CITY ( CNS ) – At Christmas , God reveals his full power , which is the power of relentlessly seeking his lost sheep and , when he finds them , giving them a caress , Pope Francis said . “ One who does not know the caresses of the Lord does not know Christian doctrine . One who does not let himself be caressed by the Lord is lost ,” the pope said Dec . 6 during his early morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae where he lives . Christmas , he said , is a celebration of the fact that “ the Lord comes with his power – which are his caresses – to find us , to save us like lost sheep and bring us back to the flock of his church .” Pope Francis said that when he reads the Gospel story of the lost sheep , he always thinks of Judas , “ the most perfect lost sheep in the Gospels .” In the Bible , he said , Judas seems always to have had “ bitterness in his heart ,” something critical to say about others and a standoffish attitude .

Pope Francis waves as he leads his Angelus Dec . 4 from the window of his studio .

( CNS photo / Tony Gentile , Reuters )

Pope says ‘ Amoris Laetitia ’ is Result of Listening , Discernment

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY ( CNS ) -- Everything in “ Amoris Laetitia ,” Pope Francis ’ exhortation on the family , sprang from consultations with Catholics around the world and was thoroughly discussed by the bishops at the 2014 and 2015 synods on the family , Pope Francis said .

“ Either you have a pyramidal church where everything Peter says is done or you have a synodal church where Peter is Peter , but he accompanies the church , lets it grow , listens . What is more , he learns from this reality and sees how to harmonize it ,” the pope told the Belgian Catholic weekly newspaper Tertio .

Pope Francis said the “ richest experience ” of the church operating in a way that is not strictly “ top down ” came from the two meetings of the Synod of Bishops on the family . In preparation for the meetings , every bishop in the world , every diocese and Catholic organizations were asked for their input .

The process highlighted the richness of the variety found in the church and was a sign of its “ unity in diversity ,” the pope said . “ This is synodality . It ’ s not descending from on high to the base , but listening to the churches , discerning .”

He said the apostolic exhortation , “ Amoris Laetitia ” (“ The Joy of Love ”) is his contribution in response to the discussions . However , he said , “ everything in there was approved by more than two-thirds ” of the synod members . The sections dealing with ministry to the divorced and civilly remarried received more “ no ” votes than the other sections , but still had two-thirds approval .

Asked about secularism , Pope Francis said a healthy separation of church and state is good for both , but a form of secularism that treats religion as a " subculture " and tries to confine any expression of religious belief to within the walls of a church or other sacred space is an offense to the dignity of the person , who naturally is open both to others and to God .

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