Pilgrims turn to ‘red dirt Catholic’ martyr as Blessed Stanley Rother story gets wide release

1:36 PM ETDeveloping

Faith Desk

OKLAHOMA CITY (OSV News) — Blessed Stanley Rother ‘s witness in the face of persecution in Guatemala hits home, said Gaby Damasceno, who has family in Nicaragua where the Church is facing increased persecution. “It really is a really meaningful story to me,” Pietro Damasceno said of Blessed Stanley’s life.

“We have a new generation of young priests that didn’t know him and were not around, so we’re trying to acquaint a new generation of priests and seminarians with Blessed Stanley because his is a life worthy of studying and a witness and an example worthy to be imitated,” he said.

Reminiscent of Pentecost, however, after arriving in Guatemala Blessed Stanley mastered not only Spanish, but became “more proficient than any of the other missionaries on the team in the intricacies of Tz’utujil, an obscure Mayan dialect,” the archbishop said.

Blessed Stanley, the archbishop said, was given little chance of being ordained by his first seminary because of his failure to master Latin. “I definitely faced opposition from my family and friends who didn’t understand,” Schmidt said of her journey into the Catholic Church from non-denominational Christianity.

He was the one of that original mission team that persevered to the end, persevered to the point of shedding his blood,” Archbishop Coakley said in his homily that day. “We still have an uncle over there, and we see how hard it is, especially with kids and raising families over there,” Damasceno said.

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OKLAHOMA CITY (OSV News) — Blessed Stanley Rother ‘s witness in the face of persecution in Guatemala hits home, said Gaby Damasceno, who has family in Nicaragua where the Church is facing increased persecution.
“We still have an uncle over there, and we see how hard it is, especially with kids and raising families over there,” Damasceno said.
“It really is a really meaningful story to me,” Pietro Damasceno said of Blessed Stanley’s life.
He was the one of that original mission team that persevered to the end, persevered to the point of shedding his blood,” Archbishop Coakley said in his homily that day.
Blessed Stanley, the archbishop said, was given little chance of being ordained by his first seminary because of his failure to master Latin.
Reminiscent of Pentecost, however, after arriving in Guatemala Blessed Stanley mastered not only Spanish, but became “more proficient than any of the other missionaries on the team in the intricacies of Tz’utujil, an…
“We have a new generation of young priests that didn’t know him and were not around, so we’re trying to acquaint a new generation of priests and seminarians with Blessed Stanley because his is a life worthy of…
“I definitely faced opposition from my family and friends who didn’t understand,” Schmidt said of her journey into the Catholic Church from non-denominational Christianity.

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