$50M shrine to honor slain priest, first US Catholic martyr

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The birth of Stanley Francis Rother was by all accounts ordinary, aside from the weather.

The Catholic farm boy came into the world during an Oklahoma dust storm. But in life – and in death – he was extraordinary.

The 46-year-old priest, shot to death in 1981, became the first person born in the United States to be declared a martyr by the Catholic Church.

Now a $50 million shrine has been built to honor the slain missionary. He was killed by three masked assassins who entered his rectory during Guatemala’s civil war.

The shrine will be dedicated on Friday and is expected to draw thousands of pilgrims to his home state.