Thousands flock to Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine dedication

Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 2:50 AM | Published: February 17, 2023

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Shrine of the Blessed Stanley Rother was dedicated Friday. The crowd that arrived for the historic opening of the largest Catholic Church in Oklahoma started waiting in line as early as 5:30 am. The congregation was allowed inside at 10:30 a.m. for the 11 a.m. service.

The 2,000-seat, 38,000-square-foot sanctuary was filled, and some had to stand and sit outside to listen to the Mass on loudspeakers.

The church is at the intersection of S.E. 89th and Shields Blvd in Oklahoma City and sits on a 52-acre campus and will host the two predominantly Hispanic congregations of Holy Angels and Sacred Heart.

The combined congregation will be called Sacred Heart at Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine.

Both congregations have far outgrown their current sanctuaries and have been forced to worship in a fellowship hall and a gymnasium to meet fire code requirements.

The complex will also include a pilgrim center with a museum displaying artifacts from Father Rother.

Outdoors, services on a replica of Tepeyac Hill in Mexico City have been held. At the top are statues of Saint Juan Diego who witnessed three Mother Mary apparitions on Tepeyac Hill.

Already declared blessed

The Blessed Stanley Rother grew up on a farm near Okarche. Once in the priesthood, he was assigned to missionary work in Guatemala, Central America. 

During a time fraught with political conflict and civil war, Rother remained committed to being the pastor of the people in Santiago de Atitlán, even though he found he had been added to a death list by pro-government death squads that had murdered members of his parish earlier.

Eventually, Rother was murdered in his rectory by men credibly thought to be connected with the Guatemalan military.

Read the rest of his story of being declared a martyr and then blessed by Pope Francis in our report from 2017 when a massive service was held to declare his status as blessed, which is one step away from sainthood.

Martyred Oklahoma priest beatified, positioned for sainthood

Gallery of sights from the historic day

(Click or tap on any photo to bring up full-size, hi-res versions of these photos.)