Oklahoma City Archdiocese Basilica and Rother Shrine Update. Construction crews are seen laying the foundation for the new Basilica style structure. The $40 million project includes a 2,000-seat Spanish colonial-style Basilica and Shrine devoted to the Blessed Father Stanley Rother, the first Catholic Priest from Oklahoma who was murdered in Guatemala . Upon its 2022 completion date, it will be the largest Roman Catholic church in Oklahoma expected to host numerous large archdiocese events and help accommodate the growing Hispanic population whose parishes in South Oklahoma City are currently overcrowded.
Rother, who was assassinated by pro-government gunmen July 28, 1981, worked in Guatemala's rural highlands from 1968 until his death. He worked alongside the indigenous people of the area, farmers, the poor and the children who worshipped at the Santiago Atitlan, parish in Guatemala. Father Stanley as he was called expressed acts of kindness and charity allowed the beloved Priest to the endeared by the Guatemalan people.
Ministry Building In addition to the church, the Shrine complex will feature a two-story ministry building to respond to the religious education needs of the growing Catholic Community. This building will provide much-needed classroom and gathering space, administrative offices, and an event hall to host large archdiocesan gatherings, receptions, and retreats for pilgrims visiting the Shrine.
The remains of Father Stanley Rother will be entombed in the Basilica and Shrine complex (TBD) as a final resting place--his remains are temporarily stored in a mausoleum at Resurrection Cemetery in northwest Oklahoma City. Father Rother's last full assignment in Oklahoma was at Corpus Christi Catholic Church 1616 North Kelley Avenue in Oklahoma City near the University of Oklahoma's Health Science Center.
The pilgrim center will welcome thousands of visitors and tourists each year to experience Rother's life, witness and martyrdom. The new church also will host many large Archdiocesan events.
Blessed Stanley Rother was declared a martyr by Pope Francis in 2016 and beatified a year later by the Catholic Church during a large-scale ceremony that attracted 20,000 worshippers in Oklahoma City's Cox Convention Center in which an estimated 3,000 people were turned away.
Updated video renderings of the Blessed Father Stanley Francis Rother Shrine: https://youtu.be/uk9OT2Zdt0ECause for Canonization of Blessed Stanley Rother
Blessed Stanley Rother Beatified
On Sept. 23, 2017, Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, celebrated the Rite of Beatification for Blessed Stanley Rother during a Beatification Mass in downtown Oklahoma City. Blessed Stanley is the first martyr born in the United States and the first U.S. priest to be beatified.
Blessed Stanley Rother was an Oklahoma priest killed in Guatemala on July 28, 1981, in his rectory. The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City opened a Cause of Canonization for Blessed Stanley on Oct. 5, 2007. The archdiocesan phase of the Cause was closed on July 20, 2010.
On Sept. 3, 2014, Most Rev. Paul S. Coakley, Archbishop of Oklahoma City, presented the Positio of Father Rother to the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. On June 14, 2015, the Theology Commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints voted to formally recognize Oklahoma’s Servant of God a martyr.
Process of Canonization
Making of a Saint
Compiled by Msgr. Robert J. Sarno, Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Rome, ItalyAll souls in heaven are saints. Formerly, the Catholic Church declared “saints” as people who were outstanding in holiness either because they died as witnesses for the faith (martyrs) or they lived a life of heroic virtue (confessors). The exact number of canonized saints is unknown because not all recognized as saints have been canonized officially. For the first half of the Catholic Church’s history, saints were canonized in various ways. Today, the process of canonization is very complex and thorough. A record number of saints have been canonized in the past 30 years, and about 2,000 candidates are being evaluated today.